Exiit qui seminat

This week, of course, as we're well aware, marks the beginning of the Lenten season. However, last year, Ash Wednesday was on February 17th and next year Lent will begin on Wednesday, February 22, 2023. So why do the dates change? It actually has everything to do with Easter and our Jewish roots. Judaism follows a calendar that is based on a lunar cycle in regards to months and the orbit of the Earth around the Sun for its year. Since there is a difference between how often full moons occur verse how long it takes for a full revolution around the sun (a difference of 11 days), Jewish months and feasts are variable and makes 7 adjustments every 19 years in order to make up the difference so that the celebration of Jewish feast days will be around the same time every year (the same reason why we have a leap year every four years as a part of our civil calendar). So Passover is celebrated either in March or April every year (sound familiar?). For Roman Catholics, Easter is based off the same lunar and solar phenomena every year. Easter Sunday is calculated as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox, the time in which the Sun can be found exactly midway in the sky. Now while the actual date of the Spring Equinox varies (either March 19, 20 or 21), the Church, for simplicity's sake, has a firm date of March 21st. SO, the first Sunday after the first full moon AFTER March 21st determines when Easter will be. However, it is interesting to note that not every Catholic celebrates Easter the same way. The Eastern Rites of Catholicism don't use the Gregorian calendar (from Pope Gregory XIII) as the basis of the liturgical year like the Roman Church. Instead they follow the older Julian calendar created by Julius Caesar around 46 BC. The Julian Calendar uses 19 year solar cycle instead of the 84 year cycle of the Gregorian Calendar and causes a 13 day difference between the Eastern and Western expressions of the Church. This year, our Eastern rite brothers and sisters will celebrate Easter on April 24th, a full week after we do. Even though the dates keeps changing, the full impact of the mystery remains the same and our celebration of Easter will be no less glorious! 

Sincerely Yours in Christ, 

Fr. Rob Sinatra