Talk of Fr. Jojo at Radio Veritas – July 28, 2003

Transcribed by Ivony Garcia - Translated to English by Yselle Callo

Tonight, our reflection is about Our Lady of Mount Carmel whose feast day is on July 16. Let us start by reading the word of God from the book of Exodus:

Moses pastured the sheep of Jethro, his father-in-law, priest of Midian. One day he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the Mountain of God. The angel of Yahweh appeared to him by means of a flame of fire in the middle of a bush. Moses saw that although the bush was on fire it did not burn up. Moses thought, "I will go and see this amazing sight, why is the bush not burning up?"

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

In olden times, God usually speaks to his people in the mountains. This may not be new to us, since we Filipinos have our own mystical understanding about mountains, even our non-Christian ancestors. Let’s just take for example the hundreds of people who climb up Mt. Banahaw believing that this is a holy place and the best place for prayer. Maybe this is because mountain heights bring you closer, as if kissing the cheeks of the heavens. People in the Bible, as well as our own countrymen believe that a mountain is special a place to encounter God.

Mt. Horeb is called the Mountain of God. This is where God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, the plant that is on fire but is not burned. There the Lord spoke to Moses about his desire to set the Israelites free from slavery in Egypt. Did you know that the old writings of the saints in the church always refer to the the burning bush as an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary? This is because of their many similarities. Just as the Lord came down to the burning bush to tell Moses about how He wants to end His people’s slavery, so did He come upon Mary’s womb to save us all from our slavery to sin. Also, consider the burning bush: just as it is not burned and damaged so is the Blessed Mother’s virginity. Even the eastern Christians like calling Our Lady as the 

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

"burning bush". This is because through her, man became one with God through Jesus Christ.

Mt. Carmel is a blessed mountain because it was where the prophet Elijah fasted for forty days and forty nights. This was also where God spoke to him and where he defended God against the 500 priests of Baal. Because of this, many Christian hermits resided in this mountain to meet up with God through prayer and meditation just like what the prophet Elijah did. These hermits chose the Blessed Virgin Mary to be their patroness because she is the "burning bush." She is the teacher of the secret prayer. Thus, the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary of Carmel is not as simple as wearing the brown scapular, as many people think.

Wearing the brown scapular of the Virgin of Carmel says something about what we want from the Mother of God. That is, anyone who wears the scapular of the Virgin of Carmel is like saying, "Mother Mary, we wish to learn from you the secrets of the spiritual life. We wish to learn from you the secrets of prayer." That’s it! Ask the hermits of old and they’ll say that they cling to the Virgin as little children so that she might teach them the secrets of prayer and contemplation. It is like saying, "We wish to learn the secret of encountering God Himself." And so if you notice, the devotion to the scapular has three conditions: (1) The one who has a scapular promises to be faithful to his baptismal vows. (2) The one who has the scapular promises to live a chaste life according to his own state of life; and (3) The one who has the scapular promises to pray the rosary everyday. But realize that many of us, just wears the brown scapular without fulfilling these conditions, not even praying the rosary daily.

Know that, that element of praying the rosary everyday is very very important. The Holy Father says in his writing, Rosario Virginis Mariae, "When we pray the rosary we actually ask the Blessed Virgin to reveal to us her memories about Christ because the mysteries of the rosary are memories of the Virgin Mary." So that, when we pray the rosary, we are like little children that sits beside the Blessed Mother while she opens to us her photo album of her son Jesus. We allow her everyday to tell the story behind every picture in that big photo album. That, is praying the rosary, contemplating with Mary the mysteries of Jesus. It is recalling her memories of Jesus.

This is why I believe what the Blessed Mother herself said, "Whoever dies wearing my scapular will not suffer eternal fires." I really believe that. You know why? Very simple. How could one who constantly contemplates the mystery of Christ ever fall into hell? Or how could one who in accordance with the obligations of the scapular live faithfully his baptismal promises ever go to hell? Or how could one who tries to live a chaste life according to his own state of life ever go to hell? This is true! If you are really faithful to the conditions of the scapular, you will never go to hell.

And there is also another assurance. It was said that whoever dies wearing the scapular will be taken away by the Virgin Mary from Purgatory on the Saturday after his or her death. For indeed, how could one who prays the rosary and contemplates the mystery of Christ, and who is faithful to his baptismal promises and lives a chaste life, remain in Purgatory for so long? This is why, Our Lady of Mount Carmel is called the Patroness of the Souls in Purgatory. In fact in his book Glories of Mary, St. Alfonsus Liguori, founder of the Congregation of the Redemptorist said, "If we do a little more than Our Lady asked, can we not hope that we would go to purgatory at all?"

Indeed the devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel is not just a simple wearing of the brown scapular. It is also being committed and being ready to learn from the Blessed Mother the secrets of the spiritual life. Those who die faithful to the scapular should die faithful to their baptismal promises, faithfully living a chaste life according to their own state of life and should die faithfully praying the mysteries of the rosary, contemplating with Mary the mysteries of Christ. And when you die in this state of grace assisted by the Virgin Mary, how could your soul remain in purgatory for so long?