16 July 2026
Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time / Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Gospel: Matthew 11:28–30

Today is Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time. The Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The recently published Missale Romanum informs us: This Optional Memorial honors the Blessed Virgin Mary as Patroness of the Carmelite Order. In time, this feast came to be associated with the vision granted to Saint Simon Stock, said to have taken place on 16 July 1251. To wear the ‘Brown Scapular,’ a symbol of the Carmelite habit, is a sign of trust in Mary’s maternal aid, especially at the hour of death.

Today’s passage from the Gospel of Saint Matthew presents words spoken by Jesus to the crowds following His praise of the Father. I say that these words are, for us today, a source of immense consolation. For we constantly face various pressures: students are burdened by academic examinations; job seekers face financial strain from prolonged unemployment; working professionals endure the pressure of performance metrics and the threat of dismissal.

Today, Jesus says gently to us: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (cf. Matt 11:28). He invites us to release our burdens, to share our toil with Him—the weight that leaves us breathless and the deep-seated anguish within. He waits there in silence, listening to our laments. He desires to share in all our struggles, that through His mercy, we may find respite.

Having found this respite, we must take up His yoke, in accordance with His will (cf. Matt 11:29). This means participating in His work of redemption on earth: bringing the comfort and joy He offers to all people through our lives and deeds. Thus, through our service and the transformation of our lives, the world may behold His living presence.

O God, who show the light of your truth to those who go astray, so that they may return to the right path, give all who for the faith they profess are accounted Christians the grace to reject whatever is contrary to the name of Christ and to strive after all that does it honour. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica