Wednesday, June 7, 2017
EMBER WEDNESDAY
Tobit, Chapter 2, Verse 8
My neighbors mocked me, saying: “Does he
have no fear? Once before he was
hunted, to be executed for this sort of deed, and he ran away; yet here he is
again burying the dead!”
A righteous person cannot
just ignore justice. Tobit must do the work the Lord has appointed him; hell or
high water.
Tobit[1]
- Within forty days, however, Sennacherib’s sons
assassinated him.
- His successor appointed Ahiquar (Tobit’s nephew) over
all the treasury accounts.
- Previously, Ahiquar had held the position of cupbearer
in Sennacherib’s court. So he had a long history of court service
and was well-respected.
- Ahiquar’s name means “My divine brother is precious.”
- Because of his position, he was able to intercede on
behalf of Tobit.
- Tobit was forgiven and allowed to come out of hiding.
- Later, when he and his family were about to celebrate
the festival of Weeks/Pentecost, Tobit was filled with gratitude because
they had so much food and saddened because so many others had little/none.
- He told his son to go out into the city and invite to
dinner those who were homeless and poor. In so doing, Tobit
was trying to instill the same values into his son.
- Tobias came back with a report that another Jew was
lying dead in the marketplace (obviously a public execution of sorts).
- Without hesitation, Tobit rose up from the table and
grabbed the body and buried it.
Helping the
Poor[2]
Righteous people have a professed interest in helping
the poor. It is hard to find anyone who’s anti-poor. What matters are not
platitudes— we’re all in favor of clean air, too—what counts are the kinds of
policies we adopt. Good intentions matter, but not much: great damage has been
done in the name of helping people. Hitler
said his policies would save Western civilization. Stalin and Mao said they
would create a utopia. They were all genocidal maniacs. If we want to help
the poor, we should at least know who they are. Census data tell us that nearly
all the poor in this country live in houses or apartments that are in good
condition and aren’t overcrowded.
·
More than 80 percent of the poor own an air
conditioner, two-thirds have cable TV, and half own a computer. Fully 96 percent
of poor parents say their children were not hungry for even a single day in the
past year. By any historical measure, there are practically no poor people left
in America.
·
When we compare our “poor” to the poor in other
nations today, we learn why I chose quotation marks to describe ours.
·
It would be wrong to conclude that we should
therefore do nothing to help those who are not affluent. As Catholics, we have
a moral obligation to help those in need.
·
At a minimum, our energy and dollars should be
directed at those who can’t help themselves. As for able bodied persons who are
not affluent, the most charitable thing we can do is to enable them to become
self-reliant.
·
Champions of the poor who oppose school vouchers
cannot be taken seriously; it is minority children in the inner city who
suffer.
·
Fraud is rampant.
When my oldest daughter was a 12-year-old, I
brought her to the office on “Bring Your Daughter to Work Day” (this trendy
idea didn’t last long). On our way to work, a man was standing next to a table
with a huge jug; UHO was inscribed on it (United Homeless Organization). He
asked us to give, but I refused. My daughter wanted to know why. When we got to
my office, I explained my reasoning. I downloaded stories on my computer
showing what a fraud UHO was. Caryn learned that virtually all the money went
to the operators and the street hustlers. Three years ago, New York Attorney
General Andrew Cuomo (now governor) said, “UHO exploits the good intentions of
people who thought their charitable donations were helping to fund services for
the homeless. Instead, their donations go
directly to UHO’s principals and workers, who abused the organization’s
tax-exempt status to line their own pockets.” Some things never change.
Over the summer, it was reported that those who live in New York City’s
Caribbean neighborhoods are buying groceries with their Electronic Benefit
Transfer cards (food stamps for those on welfare) and sending them overseas.
There are literally hundreds of 45-to-55-gallon cardboard and plastic barrels
that line the walls in virtually every Caribbean supermarket. The food is being
shipped to relatives in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. But not all
of it: some is being resold by rip-off artists.
Dishonesty is also rampant.
Bread for
the World is a prominent liberal organization that collects donations for
the alleged purpose of helping the poor. Not a dime pays for bread: All
proceeds go to lobbyists who pressure politicians to spend more money on
poverty programs. Back in the 1980s, celebrities organized a well-publicized
campaign to help the poor. “Holding Hands
Across America” garnered the support of legions of public figures (even the
Reagans were roped into it). It raked in hundreds of millions. Unfortunately
for the poor, two out of every three dollars raised was spent to pay for the
bash. More recently, when a donor sent great New York pastrami sandwiches to
the “Occupy Wall Street” gang, the pro-poor demonstrators told the homeless who
asked for some to get lost. The soup was for the poor.
Helping the poor is a noble cause, but it can
also become a fool’s errand.
·
We need to ask who the intended beneficiaries
are, and what, if anything, can be expected of them in return.
·
We need to know how much of the money goes to
administrative costs, and how much is spent on the target group.
·
We need to know if there is a face-to-face
relationship between donors and recipients, or just a money transfer.
·
We need to know about fraud and dishonesty.
One of the great things about Mother Teresa is
that she never sought the limelight. She simply went about her business helping
the poor and comforting the sick and dying. It’s our good fortune that she was
“discovered” and introduced to the world. She’s the proper role model, not
those who stand on street corners asking for “spare change,” or white-collared
professionals who manipulate public sentiment for self-serving reasons.
Ember
Days?[3]
The term “Ember Days” is derived from the Latin term Quatuor Tempora, which literally means “four times.” There are four
sets of Ember Days each calendar year; three days each – Wednesday, Friday, and
Saturday. Ember Days fall at the start of a new season and they are ordered as
days of fast and abstinence. The significance of the days of the week are
that Wednesday was the day Christ was betrayed, Friday was the day He was
crucified, and Saturday was the day He was entombed. According to the
Catholic Encyclopedia, the
purpose of Ember Days, “besides
the general one intended by all prayer and fasting, was to thank God for the
gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist
the needy.”
The Four Occurrences of Ember Days are as Follows
·
Winter: the Wednesday,
Friday, and Saturday after the Feast of St. Lucy.
·
Spring: the Wednesday,
Friday, and Saturday after Ash Wednesday.
·
Summer: the
Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after Pentecost.
·
Fall: the Wednesday,
Friday, and Saturday after the Feast of the Holy Cross.
What is an Ember Week?
The term Ember Week simply refers to the week in which the
Ember Days occur.
Daily Devotions/Prayers
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