Category: brown scapular

The other side of God

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Thursday in the Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year II
Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 16 July 2026
Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19     <*((((>< + ><))))*>     Matthew 11:28-30
Photo by author, Carmel of the Holy Family Monastery, Bgy. Tabe, Guiguinto, Bulacan, September 2025.
Your words today,
O Lord Jesus,
remind us of another side
of God - your compassion
and deep understanding of 
being human.

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Do you really want me to
come to you, Jesus?
How amazing you our
Lord and God, calling me,
inviting me to come to you,
to learn from you...
because you believe in me?
you trust me?
that I am worthy and
valuable?
In a world that gives
so much premium on
confidence and strength,
you offer us today Jesus
not only consolation
but a completely different
way of being like
being gentle and loving,
kind and understanding,
caring and humble.
Like Mary as
Our Mother of Mount Carmel,
she had opened another side
of heaven,
of God
not simply through her
Scapular but most of all
in imitating her spirituality
in being close to Jesus
nurtured in deep prayers
simplicity
and humility.
Amen.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
Pray for us!
Photo by author, Carmel of the Holy Family Monastery, Bgy. Tabe, Guiguinto, Bulacan, 15 July 2020.

Simplicity of God. And Mary.

Lord My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul, 16 July 2025
Wednesday, Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Exodus 3:13-20     ><}}}*> + ><}}}*> + ><}}}*>     Matthew 11:25-27
Photo by author, Sonnenberg Mountain View, Davao del Sur, August 2018.
Today, O Lord
your words bring us 
to the mountain
as we celebrate too
the Memorial of Our Lady of
Mount Carmel; 
in the first reading you 
brought Moses to your
mountain in Horeb to see you in the 
burning bush while the
Memorial of our Blessed Mother
today reminds us of the early monks 
who banded together 
to pray at Mount Carmel.

When the Lord saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.” “Come, now! I will send you you to Pharaoh to lead my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He answered, “I will be with you; and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you: when you bring my people out of ??Egypt, you will worship God on this very mountain” (Exodus 3:4-5, 10-12).

How lovely 
was your conversation, Lord
with Moses,
so similar with our
conversations when we would
readily answer your call
with the declaration
"Here I am" that suddenly
when you hand us our mission,
we balk and question you,
"Who am I that I should go
to Pharaoh?"
Many times
we are like Moses -
while showing humility 
with some fears in our quick response
to your call,
we suddenly doubt ourselves
upon learning the mission you
entrust us with whereas you
simply assure us of your presence,
of being our companion
with your simple statement
"I will be with you."
Such is your simplicity, Lord.
Teach us to be like Mary
your Mother, dear Jesus Christ,
simple and childlike
filled with humility,
always open to God and
his plans; after all, you call us
first of all for a relationship
with you not with a task to be
achieved.
May the Brown Scapular 
given by Mary to St. Simon Stock
be a reminder of our relationship 
with God in Christ with Mary;
always open to his will but most
of all faithful and obedient to his call
of communion and oneness. Amen.

Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Our Lady of Fatima University
Valenzuela City
From traditionallaycarmelites.com