Happy Ember Wednesday!
Dec. 20: Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
Today is an Ember Wednesday.1 According to the Catholic Encyclopedia: “The purpose of their introduction, 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.”
Unlike Christmas, these quadrennial fast days were inspired by pagans. “The Romans were originally given to agriculture, and their native gods belonged to the same class. At the beginning of the time for seeding and harvesting religious ceremonies were performed to implore the help of their deities. The Church, when converting heathen nations, has always tried to sanctify any practices which could be utilized for a good purpose.”
Reading 1
Is 7:10-14; 8:10
The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!
But Ahaz answered, "I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!"
Then Isaiah said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, which means "God is with us!"
Ahaz’s kingdom of Judah, along with some neighboring countries, were under threat from the Assyrian empire. Ahaz had plans to betray his neighbors to the empire, and spare his own territory.
Then Isaiah comes along and says, “No, no, no, don’t join up with the bad guys. Ask for a sign from God, and He’ll show you what to do.”
Ahaz will have none of that. He pretends to be pious—“I will not tempt the LORD!”—but the truth is, he doesn’t trust the lord.
Yeah, well, you’re getting one anyways, pal. And it’s a pretty important sign, too. (SPOILER ALERT: Read today’s Gospel to see what the sign ultimately means.)
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
R. (see 7c and 10b) Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.
The LORD's are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.
Knowing today is an Ember Wednesday, you can see why this psalm is fitting. God is the creator of all, and we thank Him for all He has created. We ask Him for His blessing, because now is the time for seeding. To the ancient pagans, they were literally seeding wine grapes, but for us, we’re planting the seeds of hope in Jesus’ second coming.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O Key of David,
opening the gates of God's eternal Kingdom:
come and free the prisoners of darkness!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Someone who holds keys has authority. Only Jesus can open the gates of heaven.
Gospel
Lk 1:26-38
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."
But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end."
But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?"
And the angel said to her in reply, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God."
Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.
Mary doesn’t refuse Gabriel’s call; she’s just confused. So Gabriel gives her a sign, that her older cousin is pregnant, which Mary apparently hadn’t heard yet. And if it’s possible for Elizabeth to get pregnant, so it is for Mary.
Mary, unlike Ahaz, accepts the sign. She does what God asks her to do, even though she doesn’t understand it. It’s tough, because we usually want a reason before acting.
Sometimes, though, the reason is God asked us to. That’s the kind of perfect obedience we’re called to do.
Yeah, I just found out about these for the first time, too.