Praised be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.
From the cross, Jesus told the beloved disciple and all of us that Mary is our mother.
St. John took her into his home, or better, as St. John Paul II says, among his possessions, among the precious gifts left to him by the crucified master. Wearing the brown scapular is one way of receiving Mary as a precious gift and as our mother. It is therefore an expression of filial devotion to Our Lady. This is how we can answer an objection to the scapular devotion. To many non-Catholics, and even to some Catholics, it seems superstitious.
The scapular is just two rectangles of cloth, usually not more than an inch or two on a side, connected so that one is worn on the chest and the other on the back. How can a couple of scraps of cloth save anyone from hell? It seems like just some sort of talisman.
The answer is that it is not merely wearing bits of cloth that saves us. That would be magic. Rather, it is the fact that these pieces of cloth express an interior devotion. They are the expression of a desire to be protected by Our Lady of Carmel, and that desire is not in vain, for She has promised Her assistance to those who wear the scapular. We escape hell by the grace of God, which comes to us through the maternal mediation of the Blessed Virgin.
Let us consider Her promise, which was given to St. Simon Stock. We find it recorded in the 14th-century Catalogue of Saints of the Carmelite Order. This is what we read there.
St. Simon of England continually besought the Most Glorious Mother of God to defend with a privilege the Order of Carmelites, which enjoys the special title of the Virgin. He prayed devoutly, Flower of Carmel, vine blossom laden, splendor of heaven, child-bearing maiden, none equals Thee. O Mother benign, whom no man gets to know, on all Carmel's children Thy favors bestow, Star of the Sea. The Blessed Virgin appeared to him with a multitude of angels, holding in Her blessed hands the scapular of the Order. She said, This will be for you and for all Carmelites the privilege, that he who dies in this will not suffer eternal fire. That is, he who dies in this will be saved. Now, because this was written in the 14th-century and St.
Simon Stock lived in the 13th-century, some people have called into doubt its historical accuracy. Why is there no record of this apparition from the 13th-century? Scholars have responded in the following way. First of all, the Carmelites did not produce a significant amount of literature until the 14th-century. As soon as they did start writing, they wrote about this, for this is the oldest life of St. Simon Stock. So, as soon as the life of St. Simon was written, it contained the account of this apparition, even though it was barely a page long and had little room for anything beyond the essentials. Furthermore, we see that when it was written, there was already a devotion associated with this promise, as evidenced by the poem Flower of Carmel, Flos Carmeli, contained in the narrative. Thus, there was already a fully formed tradition regarding the apparition, a hundred years after the death of St. Simon.
In addition, the Carmelites had nothing to gain by inventing the apparition. Some have thought that they could have made up the story to spread the devotion among the laity, to bring the laity over to their side, make them connected to karma. But the laity did not practice the scapular devotion in the 13th or 14th century. Initially, only priors and nuns wore the scapular.
The first Carmelite tertiaries were given a mantle or cloak. Later, they were given a scapular instead. But it was in the 15th century, in connection with the sabbatine privilege, that the laity began asking to receive the scapular in larger numbers. In the following two centuries, popes repeatedly spoke in favor of this privilege, and the scapular became quite widespread among the laity. The sabbatine privilege is a promise of rapid liberation from purgatory for those who fulfill additional conditions besides wearing the scapular. It was originally associated with the supposed bowl of Pope John XXII, but this bowl does not seem to be authentic. We can instead look for the origin of the sabbatine privilege in a deeper understanding of the original scapular promise. For our laity can and will assist those particularly devoted to her, not only to escape hell, but also to be rapidly delivered from purgatory. In 1613, the Holy Office issued a decree that made no reference to the supposed bowl of John XXII, so it has value independent of whether or not that bowl is authentic. This decree permitted the Carmelites to preach the sabbatine privilege, namely that through her continuous intercessions, pious, suffrages, merits, and special protection, the Most Blessed Virgin, especially on Saturday, the day dedicated to her by the Church, will help after their death the brethren and members of the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin of Carmel, who die in charity, that is, in the grace of God. In life, they must have worn the habit, observed chastity according to their state, and have recited the little office. If they do not know how to recite it, they are to observe the past of the Church and to abstain from meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays, except for the feast of Christmas.
The little office referred to is the little office of Our Lady, which was said for centuries by religious and laymen, but is now less common. Those who do not know how to say it can abstain from meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays instead. A confessor can also commute this condition, that is, replace it at the penitent's reasonable request with other prayers or works. The habit referred to is the scapula, which is, in fact, the most notable part of the Carmelite habit, the part of the habit that they wore even at night. By wearing this habit, one expresses an association with Karma. Some connection with Karma is necessary in order for Our Lady's promise to apply, for She said it is a promise for all Carmelites. This connection can be in various degrees. One can be a friar, or a nun, or a tertiary, or just a member of the confraternity, or merely committed to put into practice the Marian characteristic of Carmelite spirituality wholly and fervently. Like any habit, it only needs to be received once. If you're replacing your scapula, you don't need to go through the ceremony again. To make the commitment once is sufficient. After that, you can put on a new scapula or even replace it with the appropriate medal, as Saint Pius X allowed, without any ceremony. Being a religious habit, the scapula is a symbol and not a talisman. It represents both the recognition of Mary's spiritual maternity and an acceptance of one's spiritual obligations as a child of Mary. For a layman, these obligations are the observance of God's law, summarized in the Ten Commandments, daily prayer, assistance at Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, reception of the sacraments, and the fulfillment of one's duties of state. The scapula is not a magic way of obtaining salvation in whatever you do. It is an extra help for those who have a sincere desire to serve God, but are troubled by their own weaknesses. By wearing the scapula, we place ourselves under Mary's protection, asking her to give us the grace to overcome our deficiencies in serving God.
We can only be saved by grace, and Mary is God's chosen instrument to give us that grace.
The scapula gives us hope when our sins seem overwhelming or when we fear the sins that we might commit in the future. How can we know if we will persevere to the end? The scapula gives us that confidence. It should remind us to strive to be worthy children of Mary. Cooperation with grace is necessary, and this earnest striving will shorten our purgatory and increase our enjoyment of the Blessed Trinity in heaven forever and ever. Amen. 
Praised be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.