Ember Friday
Isaiah, Chapter 44, verse 2
Thus says the LORD who made you, your help, who formed you from the
womb: Do not fear, Jacob, my servant,
Jeshurun, whom I
have chosen.
Jeshurun means “upright”. Have you fallen?
Be resolute! Get up!
Have
your dreams been crushed? Have your expectations been dulled? Have the five
fears overtaken your mind? Has the fear of isolation, demons, darkness,
suffering and death kept you from holding fast to our Lord?
Rejoice
for today is your salvation!
Just
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted
up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.
Repent, says the
Lord; the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.(Mt. 4:17) I hope in the LORD, I trust
in his word; with him there is kindness and plenteous redemption. (Ps. 130:5,7)
The Devil and Temptations[1]
The New Age Movement
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Although virtually unknown a few years ago, this
movement is gaining in popularity on an international level. On the surface it
appears to be a "peace" movement, but in my estimation, it definitely
belongs to the occult. This is because it presents some basic characteristics
that are identified with the occult, even though Satan is not mentioned.
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For example, the "god" of the New Age
is not the God of Christianity and Judaism. The New Age god is more like an
impersonal energy or force of which the whole universe consists. This is a form
of pantheism. For us God is Creator and Lord of all. We are his creatures. In
the New Age, Jesus becomes one of the many spiritual masters who discovered his
higher self. It is believed that in the New Age we can also be enlightened, and
this through our own efforts not through revelation and the grace of God.
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The New Age Movement is sometimes called a peace
movement. Somehow, it is said, that when we become a part of this
"Harmonic Convergence" we can bring to bear a mighty power that is
beyond ourselves for achieving world peace. But when we talk about any power
that is not from God, and beyond ourselves we are really talking about the
occult.
·
Do not be deceived by the talk about ecology,
the beauty of nature in the world, and the fundamental goodness of the apparent
goals of this movement. Those who join the New Age Movement are entering a
movement dealing with occult spiritual power. It is not a spiritual power that
comes from God, but from the Kingdom of False Light and Darkness.
Four times a year, the Church sets aside three days to focus on God through His marvelous creation. These quarterly periods take place around the beginnings of the four natural seasons that “like some virgins dancing in a circle, succeed one another with the happiest harmony,” as St. John Chrysostom wrote. These four times are each kept on a successive Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday and are known as “Ember Days,” or Quatuor Tempora, in Latin. The first of these four times comes in Winter, after the the Feast of St. Lucy; the second comes in Spring, the week after Ash Wednesday; the third comes in Summer, after Pentecost Sunday; and the last comes in Autumn, after Holy Cross Day. Their dates can be remembered by this old mnemonic:
Father Peter Carota at the blog Traditional Catholic Priest offers some additional historical information on Ember days:
The Ember days are true Catholic tradition dating actually dating back to the Apostles, (Pope Leo The Great claims it was instituted by the Apostles). Pope Callistus (217-222) in the “Liber Pontificalis” has laws ordering all to observe a fast three times a year to counteract the hedonistic and pagan Roman rites praying for:
- a
good harvest (June),
- a
good vintage (September),
- a
good seeding in December.
The purposes of these “mini Lents” were to pray, fast and to thank God for the gifts He gives us through nature. They follow the four seasons of the year with the beauty and uniqueness of each particular season. They are here for us to teach us to use, with moderation, what God gives us through nature, and to also share these gifts with the poor.
So what does this mean for you? Well, because of the changes in Church law, not a whole lot. At least not officially. The mandatory observation of Ember days was excised from Church practice during the pontificate of Pope Paul VI. But as a voluntary practice, there is much that is salutary in observing the Ember days of the Church.
I don’t know about you, but as a typically indulgent American, I’ve never been very good at fasting. Lately, I’ve noticed more and more people are advocating fasting as a counter-measure in today’s troubling times. This is the first year I will be observing these fasts, and I’ve got to tell you, I’m already pretty famished and a bit punchy. But the way I see it, there’s no point in continuing to put off the inevitable penance that I’m going to have to do for being a big, fat sinner. To say nothing about making reparations for the increasingly hostile darkness of a world steeped in its own sins. Fasting isn’t going to get easier at some point in the future when I get “holier.” In fact, I’m guessing the latter isn’t going to happen until I master the former. I don’t think there’s ever been a time where fasting and penance are more needed than right this moment. We can’t rely on others to do it for us. Gotta cowboy up and put our mortification where our mouth is. What do you say? Who will be hungry with me?!
At the direction of His Holiness Pope Francis today is a day of prayer and fasting for peace, in particular for the populations of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. The Pope said, Facing the tragic continuation of conflicts in different parts of the world, I invite all the faithful to a special day of prayer and fasting for peace Feb. 23, the Friday of the first week of Lent.[3]
Daily
Devotions
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