Coffee With God

Reflection: Matthew 12:1-8

There are many “Our Ladys” in our popular devotions in the Church. Here, we usually concentrate on how the Blessed Virgin is honoured in a place – the Virgin who invites to pray the Rosary for world peace in Fatima, the Virgin inviting us to repentance and healing at Lourdes, the Virgin of the poor and marginalised at Guadeloupe and so on. When we speak of Our Lady of an order or congregation, we are alluding to the way in which she is honoured in that institute. The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is celebrated today on 16 July. It draws our attention to the way in which she is manifested to the Carmelite Order. The hermit brothers on Mount Carmel dedicated an oratory to St Mary early in the thirteenth century, declaring that she is their Patron who will look after them, and whom they in turn will serve. A significant Carmelite devotion to Our Lady is through the Brown Scapular which has been very popular since the fifteenth century. The scapular is a symbol, a sign of a relationship with Christ along with Mary, one of dependence and love. Wearing a scapular would be meaningful when it leads us into the contemplation of the divine mysteries. The scapular should also remind us that we are to be clothed with Christ, and further be able to realise Mary clothing us with her Son. The Brown Scapular has been seen as a sign of Mary’s care and help in moments of life’s dangers, and also at the time of death. On this day 171 years ago, in 1849, five diocesan priests in Spain came together under the leadership of Father Antony Claret and began a small community and called themselves “Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” The Community grew in numbers and ministries over the years and today, the Claretian Missionaries with over 3000 members, serve in 66 countries around the world. Today, let us pray for the members of the Carmelite Order and the Claretian Missionaries. In today’s Gospel, the Pharisees criticise Jesus for breaking the Law of Sabbath: the disciples are caught picking up ears of corn – that is working on a Sabbath day. To the Jewish mind, along with circumcision and kosher food customs, Sabbath was a sign of their identity as the chosen People of God. They clung to it fiercely. In Antioch, a Roman territory, Sabbath had no special meaning. But the Pharisees insisted on observing these customs. The Pharisees’ approach was making it a burden. To tamper with Sabbath was to tamper with God. Jesus was a free man, not a slave to the law. The first reading reminds us of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt through the Passover Supper. It is what God has been doing and what he wants to continue to do in every human heart and in every moment of history: to liberate. In our prayer today we ask the Lord to help us grow in the freedom of the Children of God, freedom that gives peace to our lives, that allows us to sleep peacefully and live life with freshness and joy.