“The Sunday following the paschal full moon, which is the moon that falls on or after the spring equinox”. This is how we determine Easter Sunday each year and it’s why Easter is so late this year, while just three years ago Easter fell on March 23. The Council of Nicaea decreed the formula back in the year 325 and for almost 1700 years this is the cycle we’ve followed even as the calculation confounds us as we juggle different schedules each year. Even pastors would love consistency: “Can’t we just settle on the Second Sunday of April?” as one colleague wistfully suggests.
This year we will gather to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord on the last Sunday in April, as late in the cycle as possible. The date on which Easter falls may change from year to year, but our joy and enthusiasm never wane. Even in late spring, with Mother’s Day, graduations, and Father’s Day straight ahead, we will still “lift high the Cross” as we celebrate Easter.
The late date this year does have an advantage: it provides us with the opportunity for a slow, steady, purposeful and prayerful walk through the remaining weeks of Lent. We may be at the beginning of April, but we’re still only half-way through Lent.
We’ll begin the month on Saturday April 2 with a celebration of the Seder, the Passover meal, the meal Jesus shared with his disciples on the night of his arrest and betrayal. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to enjoy an evening of fellowship as we learn why faithful Jews had been gathering to remember the Passover for more than a thousand years even before Jesus and his disciples took their places in the Upper Room.
On Sunday April 3 we will celebrate both Sacraments as we Reaffirm our Baptismal Covenant and partake in the Lord’s Supper – our Sacrament grounded in the Passover. We’ll focus on the word “shalom” on Sunday April 10 as we learn that the word means so much more than “peace”; it means a deep peace that comes from a wholeness and completeness that can come only from our faith in God and walking with Christ.
Holy Week begins with our joyful Palm Sunday service on the 17th, all our voices singing out, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” as we wave our palms, just as the people of Jerusalem did two thousand years ago as Jesus entered the city. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings the men of our church will present the powerful drama, “The Living Last Supper,” recreating Jesus’ final evening as he and his disciples gathered to observe the Passover.
On Maundy Thursday we’ll have what I consider our most emotional and moving worship service of the year as we walk with our Lord through his betrayal, his arrest, and his crucifixion. We will leave the service in silence remembering that for three long days the world walked in utter darkness.
But then on the 24th, we’ll recall with glad hearts the words from the first chapter of the Gospel of John, “the light shines in the dark, and the darkness did not overcome it,” as we conclude Lent and bring April to a close with our glorious Easter service celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have a wonderful opportunity with our late Easter this year to immerse ourselves fully and completely in a truly Holy Lent. I invite you to take full advantage of this year’s unique lunar cycle.
Grace & peace,
Pastor Skip
