Celebrate the Beauty of Ember Days

Ember Days of Spring and the Lenten Season – it truly makes me want to take long walks in nature and give thanks for all the beauty that abounds.

Today is not only the First Friday of Lent, it is also the second Ember Days of the Lenten Season. Once upon a time Ember Days were days of fasting and prayer. While the Church has moved away from fasting as it once was, Ember Days should still have meaning in our spiritual life.

These are days of thanksgiving and praise to the Lord for the seasons. Seasons don’t hold the same meaning they once did. We don’t live off the land in the same way. Sadly, there are people who have no concept as to how food is grown. As a girl, I can remember when seasons did have an impact. We ate corn on the cob in the summer, but come winter corn came from a can. There was no fresh corn in the grocery stores. Today most of us can walk into a grocery store and find most fruits and vegetables readily available year round. We don’t think about the cycle of crops except in monetary ways. In December I pay a higher price for Asparagus than I do in April.

With each set of Ember Days, there is a particular association to the season. In spring, we are grateful to the flowers and the bees. As most food growers know, without bees there would be no pollination. Tomato plants would be just vines. Fruit trees would be just trees. Nothing would grow and produce its fruits in due time. That should be reason enough to give thanks. Bees also produce wax. It is bees wax that is used in the devotional candles, baptism candles and the candles that adorn our alters. So we are doubly blessed.

While I do not fast on Ember Days, I do pause to give thanks. It is both a humbling experience and an uplifting one to give thanks to God.

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For those strolls through nature, a Tuna Salad Hoagie is sure to taste amazing. Enjoy and remember always, you are blessed.

Tuna Salad Hoagies
1 Celery Rib
4 Green Leaf Lettuce
1 large Tomato
3 (5 oz) cans Albacore Tuna
1/3 cup Miracle Whip
1/4 cup Sweet Pickle Relish
4 Hoagie Rolls
4 Dill Pickle Spears
Potatoes Chips for serving

Trim and dice celery. Rinse lettuce leaves; pat dry and break into pieces to fit inside the rolls. Slice tomato; set aside.

Drain cans of tuna. Place tuna in a large bowl flake to break apart. Add Miracle Whip, pickle relish and diced celery. Fold gently to blend creating a tuna salad spread.

Partially split hoagie rolls open. Place lettuce leaves on the bottom, top with slices of tomato. Scoop tuna salad on top of the tomato. Close roll, secure with a cocktail skewer if desired.

Plate Tuna Hoagies with a pickle spear for garnish and serve with potato chips.

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If You, O LORD, mark iniquities,
LORD, who can stand?
But with You is forgiveness,
that You may be revered.