Ember Wednesday
2
Maccabees, Chapter 3, Verse
25
There appeared to them a richly
caparisoned horse, mounted by a fearsome
rider. Charging furiously, the horse attacked Heliodorus with its front hooves.
The rider was seen wearing golden armor.
A caparisoned horse
would be a horse that has its mane and tail decoratively tied and saddle and
accoutrements highly decorative with the rider in a golden armor being of
kingly or princely rank. This imagery noted shows that God will defend His
temple. Heliodorus was on a mission to defraud the temple of its funds when he
was struck down by this vision. In many respects it is a shadow of the
conversion of Saul when God defends the living temples of His church the new
Christians.
Some thousand years before the time of
Christ, the great Temple of Solomon was built. Previously, the tribes of Israel
had worshipped God in sanctuaries housing the ark of the covenant. King David
had desired to build a permanent house of God for the ark. But that work was
accomplished by his son Solomon, equally famous for his wisdom and his eventual
corruption. In the Old Testament, the Temple is often referred to as "the
house of the Lord." Sometimes it is called "Zion," as in today's
Psalm, a term that also referred to the city of Jerusalem. The Temple was a
barometer of sorts for the health of the covenantal relationship between God
and the people. Many prophets warned that a failure to uphold the Law and live
the covenant would result in the destruction of the Temple. The prophet
Jeremiah, for example, warned that having the temple couldn't protect the
people from the consequences of their sins: "Put not your trust in these
deceitful words: 'This is the Temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the
temple of the Lord'" (Jer 7:4). In 587 B.C., the Temple was destroyed by
King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, marking the start of the exile. During
that time, in the 25th year of exile, the prophet Ezekiel had a vision of a new
temple (see Ez 40-48). The description of the temple hearkened back in various
ways to the first chapters of Genesis (see 2:10-14), including references to
pure water, creatures in abundance and unfading trees producing continuous
fresh fruit. This heavenly temple, it was commonly believed, would descend from
heaven and God would then dwell in the midst of mankind. After the exile, the
Temple was rebuilt, then damaged and rebuilt again. Finally, not long before
the birth of Christ, Herod built a glorious temple. It was there that Jesus was
presented by Mary and Joseph and blessed by Simeon (see Lk 2:22-35) and where
he, as a youth, spent time talking to the teachers of the Law (Lk 2:43-50). It
was also the setting for the scene described in the Gospel -- the cleansing of
the Temple and Jesus' shocking prophecy: "Destroy this temple and in three
days I will raise it up." Was Jesus, in cleansing the Temple, attacking
the Temple itself? No. And did Jesus, in making his remark, say he would
destroy the temple? No. But, paradoxically, the love of the Son for his Father
and his Father's house did point toward the demise of the Temple. "This is
a prophecy of the Cross," wrote Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in "The
Spirit of the Liturgy." "He shows that the destruction of his earthly
body will be at the same time the end of the Temple." Why? Because a new
and everlasting Temple was established by the death and resurrection of the Son
of God. "With his resurrection the new Temple will begin: the living body
of Jesus Christ, which will now stand in the sight of God and be the place of
all worship. Into this body he incorporates men." The new Temple of God
did, in fact, come down from heaven. It dwelt among man (see Jn 1:14).
"It" is a man: "Christ is the true temple of God, 'the place
where his glory dwells'; by the grace of God, Christians also become temples of
the Holy Spirit, living stones out of which the Church is built"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1197). Through baptism we become joined
to the one Body of Christ, and that Body, the Church, is the "one temple
of the Holy Spirit" (No. 776). "Come! behold the deeds of the
Lord," wrote the Psalmist, "the astounding things he has wrought on
earth." Indeed, behold Jesus Christ, the true and astounding temple of
God, and worship him in spirit and in truth.
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.”
Fall
Ember Days[3]
Football
games and pumpkin spice beverages and foods return; Autumn is upon us. Sadly,
that is what the fall season means to so many people. We have lost contact the
actual natural signs of the seasons of the year and turn to manmade expressions
as signals for the change of seasons. But a pumpkin spice latte and football
game aren’t true signals of the season change, because the specially flavored
latte tends to return earlier each year, and added pre-season games blur the
true end of summer and beginning of Fall. Once again, I turn to the Church’s
Ember Days as an aid to looking at nature and the change of seasons and
recognizing them all as a gift from God. Ember Days are a quarterly observance
the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of one week of each season that “the Church
is accustomed to entreat the Lord for the various needs of humanity, especially
for the fruits of the earth and for human labor, and to give thanks to him
publicly.” (Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, 45). In
addition, the Church provides us two seasons of preparation, Advent and Lent.
Both seasons are a time for change of heart and renewal. But naturally the
change of seasons seem to tug and encourage us for renewal and change (spring
and fall cleaning, anyone?). Although not required, the traditional fasting and
abstaining of these days are an external expression of turning our hearts and
focusing back to God. Practicing Ember Days is not intended to be a
backward-looking movement or living in the past. Ember Days are still a part of
the Church’s tradition. There is an unbroken continuum within the Church’s
Liturgy. Ember Days may look a bit different than pre-Vatican II (but even
before 1962 Maria von Trapp was bemoaning how
they were different and disappearing in her contemporary 1955 America), but the
Ember Days are still a part of the Church’s living tradition. Ember Days are
part of the agrarian heritage of our Faith. The Church recognizes our
dependency on God for His gifts of nature. The Liturgy has reflects this
connection with nature and God. Before man become so civilized, weather, crops,
farm animals and the change of seasons were a part of daily life for everyone.
Not everyone lived in rural locations, but there was a recognition of that
connection of the land to our life. The agrarian connection also recognized
that while man could work the land, he can never control the elements.
Returning to our agricultural roots brings true humility in remembering man’s
role on earth as being completely beholden to God. The gift of nature is from
God, and man is not and can never be in control of it. While Liturgy always has
the balance of the four forms of prayer: adoration, contrition, thanksgiving
and supplication, our personal prayers tend to lean heavily on the petition
form. The Ember Days were a time dedicated to continuing that petition to help
us with our needs, especially with harvests, but also stressing on giving
gratitude to God for His generous gifts. The September Ember Days were one of
the first Ember Days established, and they are the most prominent of the
quarterly days. The Ember Days in September are outside the main liturgical
seasons (Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter) and are closest to the Fall
Equinox. The Church recognized the pattern of change of seasons and bringing in
the harvest man needs to give thanks and renew our hearts. The public practice
of Ember Days within the diocese or parish is dependent on the local Ordinary,
so there are many locations that do not observe Ember Days at all. But that
doesn’t mean that Ember Days can’t be observed in small ways in our domestic
churches. I have written about this several times, so I won’t belabor the
point. There are prayers, food, decorations and activities that can easily be
incorporated by your family. Even if no extra external activities or food are
added, the Ember Days can be a simple three day exercise of remembering to look
with wonder at our gifts of nature from God, see the connections in our life,
and to use this time to turn our hearts in praise and thanksgiving.
National Cheeseburger Day is a day of appreciation for cheeseburgers. Typically, when cooking a cheeseburger, cheese is added to a hamburger patty a few seconds before the patty is removed from the heat. This allows the cheese to melt onto the burger. According to an obituary published by Time in 1964, Lionel Sternberger created the cheeseburger in 1920s, when he placed cheese on top of a hamburger as an experiment. Sternberger was 16 and worked as a cook in his father's sandwich shop in Pasadena, California. Aside from cheese, other cheeseburger toppings include ketchup and mustard. This tasty national holiday is celebrated each year on September 18th.
National Cheeseburger Day Facts & Quotes
· According
to the US Department of Agriculture, the average cheeseburger contains 303
calories and 30 grams of carbohydrates, as well as 41 mg of cholesterol.
· In 2008,
Burger King released a men's cologne called Flame. This cologne was
marketed as the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat. Sounds
like a whiff of purgatory, to me!
· Each
year, McDonald's serves more than 5 billion burgers, which translates into a
heard of 25 million cows.
· According
to archeologists, ancient Egyptian tombs contain murals about cheese making,
which date back to 2000BC.
· Life is
too short to miss out on the beautiful things in life like a double
cheeseburger. - Channing Tatum
National Cheeseburger Day Top Events and Things to
Do
· Enjoy a
cheeseburger for lunch or dinner. Try it with an exotic cheese. Our
favorites: Havarti, blue cheese, smoked gouda and goat cheese.
· To try a
twist on the traditional cheeseburger with a veggie, tofu, lamb, bison or
chicken patty instead.
· To
celebrate National Cheeseburger Day, host a cheeseburger tasting with your
family and friends. You can create slider cheeseburgers with an
assortment of toppings, including:
- Spicy curry mayo with a mango salsa
- Fried egg and bacon
- Mac & Cheese
- Grilled eggplant and hummus
- Wasabi mayo and avocado
- Guacamole, lettuce and tomato
- Spicy curry mayo with a mango salsa
- Fried egg and bacon
- Mac & Cheese
- Grilled eggplant and hummus
- Wasabi mayo and avocado
- Guacamole, lettuce and tomato
· Enjoy a
free cheeseburger or a cheeseburger upgrade on this national holiday. Some
restaurants are offering free cheeseburgers for downloading aps, others free
upgrades and others free cheeseburgers for sharing promotional hashtags.
· Watch
empowering documentaries about the impact of unhealthy eating on health and
well-being:
1) Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (2010)
2) Supersize Me (2004)
3) Food, Inc (2008)
1) Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (2010)
2) Supersize Me (2004)
3) Food, Inc (2008)
“Train children in
the right way, and when old, they will not stray.”-Proverbs 22:6
Daily Devotions
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