Readings:
✠ Epistle: Hebrews 9:2–12
✠ Gospel: Luke 13:6–17
As the Church gathers in the stillness of Ember Saturday in September, a sacred day of fasting, supplication, and thanksgiving, she turns our gaze to the mystery of divine worship and the fruits that God demands of His vineyard. Both the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Gospel according to St. Luke converge on a singular truth: God desires inward transformation, not merely outward observance.
Let us descend into the sanctuary of these readings, guided by the Fathers and the light of tradition.
I. The True Tabernacle and the Blood that Redeems (Heb 9:2–12)
The Apostle draws our attention to the liturgical sanctuary of the Old Covenant—the tabernacle prepared under Moses with its golden candlestick, the table of shewbread, the veil, the censer, the ark, and the mercy seat overshadowed by the cherubim. These sacred furnishings, though richly adorned, were but “figures of the time present” (Heb 9:9), shadows of the heavenly reality.
As St. John Chrysostom comments:
“What need was there of the first tabernacle? That it might be a type, a figure, a shadow… For the Law was a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things” (Homilies on Hebrews, XVI).
The Apostle elevates our vision to Christ, the High Priest of the good things to come, who enters not into a man-made tabernacle, but into Heaven itself, bringing not the blood of goats and calves, but His own most precious Blood. This is the perfect liturgy, the fulfillment of every sacrifice.
On this Ember Saturday, traditionally a day of priestly ordinations and public prayer for the sanctification of clergy, the Church calls us to contemplate this priesthood of Christ. The sacred ministry exists to re-present this one eternal offering: Christ crucified and risen, made present on our altars.
II. The Barren Fig Tree and the Healing on the Sabbath (Luke 13:6–17)
In the Gospel, Our Lord speaks a parable of stern mercy. A man planted a fig tree in his vineyard—an image of Israel, and of each soul placed within the vineyard of the Church. For three years the tree bore no fruit. The owner seeks to cut it down. Yet the gardener intercedes: “Lord, let it alone this year also… and if it bear fruit, well; and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.”
The Venerable Bede interprets the three years mystically:
“The three years may be understood to be the period before the Law, under the Law, and under grace: that is, before the coming of Christ, during His earthly ministry, and now in the time of the Church. Still the fruit is not found; but the Divine Mercy pleads for more time.” (Homilies on the Gospels, II.7)
But the parable is not a fable—it is embodied in what follows: a woman, bound by Satan for eighteen years, bent and unable to lift herself. Christ, moved with compassion, calls her forward on the Sabbath and heals her. What the fig tree lacked—fruitfulness and uprightness—is restored in this woman. Her healing is a sign of true Sabbath rest: the liberation of the soul from sin, and its elevation toward God.
St. Ambrose, in reflecting on this passage, marvels at Christ’s mercy:
“The synagogue was indignant because the Lord healed on the Sabbath, but He who is the Lord of the Sabbath came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. The Sabbath is truly kept when the soul is set free from the burden of sin.” (Exposition on the Gospel of Luke, Book VII)
III. The Spirit of the Ember Day: Liturgy, Fruitfulness, and Mercy
The Ember Saturdays in traditional Catholic life are rich with symbolism: agricultural cycles, vocational sanctity, and liturgical thanksgiving. But deeper still is the call to bear fruit worthy of repentance (cf. Luke 3:8). The fig tree must not remain barren. The Temple must not be only golden within but empty of love. The Sabbath must not become a pretext to ignore the suffering.
On this Saturday of fasting and prayer, the Church holds up for our veneration the holy martyrs Ss. Cosmas and Damian, brothers and physicians who healed the sick gratis, out of love for Christ. Their memory in today’s Mass is a perfect counterpoint to the synagogue leader who resents healing on the Sabbath. Where envy and legalism close the heart, the saints open their lives in self-giving love.
Conclusion: The Altar and the Soul
As we look toward the altar—prefigured in the tabernacle, fulfilled in Christ—we are reminded that we too are temples of the Holy Ghost. Our souls must be fruitful trees, offering to God the sweet fruit of prayer, penance, and charity. Let us hear the gardener’s voice today: “Let it alone this year also…” Let us not presume upon His patience, but respond with acts of grace.
May the prayers of Ss. Cosmas and Damian, physicians of the body and soul, obtain for us healing from spiritual barrenness. And may this Ember Saturday be for us a time of renewal in our love for the sacred, the priesthood, and the fruitful keeping of the Sabbath of the heart.
Suggested Prayer:
O Lord Jesus Christ, High Priest of the good things to come, grant that we, who commemorate Thy holy martyrs and kneel before Thy altar on this Ember Day, may be made fruitful in every good work, and healed of the crookedness of our sins, that we may stand upright in Thy sight and glorify Thee now and forever. Amen.
Commemoratio: Ss. Cosmæ et Damiani
Oremus.
Sancti Cosma et Damiane, gloriosi Martyres et Medici sine stipendio, intercedite pro nobis, ut, per vestros merita et orationes, corporis et animæ sanitatem consequamur. Amen.