| Mr. Higginbotham - Religion |
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PREPARE THE WAY
Saint John the Baptist appears on the scene today as advent enters its second week. The mysterious consumers of locusts and wild honey, John echoes the words of the prophet Isaiah as he calls for repentance in the face of the nearness of the kingdom of heaven. The rhythyms of the Christian life are often confounding. Each year we meet the Baptist and hear his calls for repentance. Each year we see him pointing to the one who is coming after him,, the Lord Jesus. Yet each year the words and actions of John the Baptist echo anew in our hearts, because we have fallen into old sinful traps again and again. Advent gives us the opportunity once again to turn away from our sinful ways and embrace the gospel way of life. John the Baptist invites us to prepare the way for the Lord, in whom we place our hope. ( Copyright, J.S. Paluch)
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Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday comes very early this year. Last year it fell on February 21, but February 6 marks the beginning of Lent this year. Why does this date change from year to year?
That decision was made a long, long time ago. The bishops who gathered in Ad 325 for the Council of Nicaea – the same council that drew up the Nicene Creed that we pray at every Mass- decided that Easter would always be the first Sunday following the first full moon after the first day of spring. The reason was good one during those days. The full moon gave bright moonlight to pilgrims who were traveling to Easter celebrations. Because different phases of the moon fall on different dates, this way of calculating the date of Easter means that it can come as early as March 22(it is March 23 this year) and as late as April 25(it will be April 24 in 2011).
The season of Lent has forty weekdays and six Sundays. It begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with the beginning of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on the evening of Holy Thursday, the beginning of the Triduum- the three days- leading to Easter. If you begin with the date of Easter this year (March 23) and count back forty weekdays and six Sundays, you arrive at February 6. Use the same pattern on these calendars to find the date of Ash Wednesday in 2011.
Whether Ash Wednesday falls early or late in the year, the most important things is to decide how you will keep the three practices of Lent- prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. |
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