The Scapular: a sign of commitment and a reminder of God’s promise, prelate says

By Natalie Hazel Quimlat

Speaking to hundreds of devotees who came to the Naga Carmelite Monastery yesterday on the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, July 16, Caceres Archbishop Rex Andrew Alarcon underlined the meaning and symbol of the scapular, a popular sign of devotion to Mary, and called on everyone to emulate the Mother of God, a pillar of hope at the foot of the Cross. 

The weight on one’s shoulders

Alarcon began his homily by depicting an image of hard work. “One of the symbols or images of labor is our shoulders,” he said. “When we carry heavy loads, we put them on our shoulders.” 

A backpack on one’s shoulders, a father carrying his child on his shoulders, a worker placing his tools on his shoulders -these are all but images depicting how much weight one puts on his shoulders.

In fact, the prelate said, when one does a good job, we pat them on their shoulders; but when one is tired or in a low mood, we ask why their shoulders are sagging. 

Thus, it is with this image of the scapular, the Latin word that refers to one’s shoulder, that Alarcon takes his listeners to the Gospel scene of the day: Calvary.

“Determined to finish the mission given to Him,” he said, “Jesus bore the weight of the Cross on His shoulders.” 

But looking closely at the scene, it was not only Jesus who had strong shoulders at Calvary. Mary too, His mother, was there, standing on the foot of the Cross, “carrying the weight of the mission on her shoulders”.

Jubilee Year of Hope

Reflecting on the year declared by Pope Francis as the Jubilee Year of Hope, Alarcon defined hope as “a [daily] fundamental disposition of [man]”. 

He went on to discuss the different levels of hope -from the tier that hopes for the simple, mundane things of daily life to the rank that requires patience because what is hoped for takes time to happen; to the level that requires more faith, trust and perseverance, and ultimately, to the degree that stems from the abyss of suffering. 

“Here,” Alarcon said, “It is no simple courage [that is required]. We need grace [for] when it is difficult to see and feel the presence of God, a deeper faith [is called for -one] that allows us to surrender to [Him].”

“This is the highest level of hope,” he exhorted. 

Thus, going back to the Gospel scene, we see Jesus commending His Spirit to the Father, and Mary firmly standing at the foot of the Cross, “in solidarity with her Son” -both completely surrendering to the will of the Father. 

Mary: Pillar of Hope

Pope Francis defines hope as “a virtue of movement and engine of change”. Throughout her life, Mary has been the epitome of this definition, Alarcon said. The moment she said yes to the will of God, she has been holding and supporting Jesus -present in all the defining moments of Jesus’ life and ministry. 

This is in comparison to Lot’s wife who became a pillar of salt when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed -an image of “something stuck, unable to move, dead”. 

Instruments of Hope

To be disposed to be at the highest level of hope is a challenge. There are times when man also becomes hopeless, Alarcon said. Thus, when we seek and pray for hope, it is the hope that comes from the mercy of God that we [should] ask, he continued to say. 

“Hope that is constantly renewed in the Eucharist, at the Altar of God.” 

Ultimately, Alarcon defined hope as “the theological virtue by which we desire the Kingdom of God and heaven, the Kingdom of Heaven and eternal life as our happiness”. 

Thus, to hope and to wear the scapular on one’s shoulders as a symbol of commitment also means to “trust in Christ’s promises, not relying on our own strength but the grace of the Holy Spirit”. After all, the promise of the scapular is this: “Whoever dies wearing this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.”

In closing, Alarcon prayed not only for strong shoulders but also for a renewal of strength, “bottomless hope”, and to be “instruments of hope”.