“Praised be Jesus Christ!  The Lord Jesus has been leading me through a time of revealing and healing wounds in my heart.  One such area of woundedness in my life has been a strong feeling of alienation.  For many years I have felt like I do not really belong among my friends, my fellow Christians, and even to the Father as His adopted son.  This year on the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Lord gave me a beautiful grace through Our Lady and the Brown Scapular that has been a place of healing for this wound of alienation.  While at Mass on the Solemnity, father's homily convicted me of various ways that pride had taken subtle roots in my life.  I decided to go to the adoration chapel to pray a Holy Hour after Mass so that I could speak with the Lord about this conviction.  When I reached the chapel, my heart was immediately disturbed.  As I bore my heart and my brokenness to Jesus in the Eucharist, it felt as if I was met with indifference and rejection.  I felt the pain of alienation and rejection very intensely in that moment.  In my pain, I cried out interiorly to Our Lady of Mount Carmel to pray for me.  Immediately I saw a mental image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel tenderly vesting me with my Brown Scapular.  I heard her say, ‘You belong among my company.  I have chosen you.’  Immediately I felt an overflowing sense of love and belonging to Our Lady, and thus to Jesus, that I had never experienced before.  These words have become a touchstone of my spiritual life and identity.  Mary showed me through the Brown Scapular that I belong spiritually to her Carmelite family.  Ever since the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, I have experienced through my enrollment in the Confraternity of the Brown Scapular a profound sense of belonging to Jesus and His Church.”

Anonymous