Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

 Lectionary: 392

"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 yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

Labor appears twice in our readings this morning. We hear the Lord speak in the Gospel of that labor which is burdensome, and we recognize the labor of childbirth in Isaiah's prophecy. But Isaiah speaks of a terrible labor which is both life-threatening and deeply disappointing as, "We conceived and writhed in pain, [and gave] birth to wind....

But that terrible image is mitigated both by the Lord's reassuring welcome and today's Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. My readers surely remember the words of a Chrismas Carol, "How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given...." The lovely carol --"O Little Town of Bethlehem" -- alludes to the ancient, popular belief that the Virgin Mary suffered no pain when she "brought forth her first born son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger." 

Because she was immaculately conceived, and never sinned, Mary was not subject to the curse which fell upon our Mother Eve: 

I will intensify your toil in childbearing;

in pain you shall bring forth children.

The popular belief is not, so far as I know, an infallible teaching of the Church, but it appeals to our cheerful belief in God's mercy toward his Beloved; and it also follows from her Son's teaching, "...my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Surely bearing the Son of God was not like bearing the sons and daughters of those who inherit concupiscence and will be found guilty of sin.  

But even for the innocent, there is much in human life that is difficult, onerous, odious, and profoundly frustrating because we wish it were not so. Life is so much easier when we quit arguing with it and accept it for what it is. 

"Just quit complaining," I say to myself, "and do it." Or, as Dad told me many years ago, "If you had not wasted so much time complaining about doing the dishes, you'd be finished by now!" 

We're often caught between the way things and the way things should be. I think of all those unfortunate persons who, having no faith in God, believe with all their hearts that the strong should stop oppressing the weak, straights should accept gays, gay marriage is the real thing, and racist Americans should welcome Native-, African-, Asian, and South Americans as fellow citizens of the earth with natural dignity and equal rights. There is room and ample resources for everyone!  

No matter how one feels about such matters -- and I have strong feelings about several of them -- we don't need to lose sleep over them. As Psalm 37 (vss 8-9) teaches us:

Refrain from anger; abandon wrath;

do not be provoked; it brings only harm.

Those who do evil will be cut off,

but those who wait for the LORD will inherit the earth.

In fact, the more we fret and stew about such things the less effective our corrective efforts will be. Those who are truly committed to building the Kingdom of God, work more and worry less. While those who are frenetically wrought about their causes often need relief, and decide they can afford a few less sinful pleasures. 

"I will give you rest." says the Lord. We find our comfort in prayer, His presence, and the presence of Our Mother Mary. That is more than enough.