Dear Reader,
Some have been asking about how the Church calendar works
and specifically how we celebrate Easter for so long. So I’d like to offer a
few thoughts on the calendar, and specifically the importance of those small
words—in, of, and after!
First off, every Sunday is the perpetual feast of the
Resurrection, regardless of season. This is why the calendar tells us that the
Sundays in Lent are in Lent, but not “of” Lent. One seventh of Christian time,
one day out of every seven day week, is dedicated to celebrating the Lord’s
resurrection. If we turn to Easter, then, the specific celebration of the
Resurrection, we celebrate it for roughly one seventh of the Christian
year—fifty days. The Christian week and year mirror each other in an orderly
fashion. So, Easter is the “Sunday” of the Church calendar year. Easter really
is a fifty day celebration of the Resurrection—the great Lord’s Day!
In addition to the Sundays of Easter, Advent Sundays are
also “of” the season. This reinforces Advent as a proper season, and since
Advent does not involve the same degree of penitential tone as Lent, there is
no need to separate the Sundays from the feel and content of the surrounding
season. In addition, Christmas is also a season in a sense, albeit a short one!
Lent is of course a season as well, but Sundays are held out as being “in”
rather than “of” because the perpetual feast of the resurrection breaks in even
in the solemn darkness of Lent and brings relief—including the benefit of
indulging in what one has given up for Lent on Sundays (assuming, of course,
that what one gave up was not a sin!). We have Easter and Advent, as having
Sundays “of” the season, and Lent as having Sundays “in” the season.
This brings us to an important point: the “after” Sundays.
The Sundays after the Epiphany and the Sundays after Pentecost are a return to
Ordinary Time. That is to say, while Advent, Lent and Easter are seasons, the
Epiphany and Pentecost are not. Advent and Christmas form the Incarnation
cycle; Lent and Easter form the Paschal cycle. These two cycles break into
Ordinary Time, and if one of these two cycles is not happening, we are in
Ordinary Time and focus on the weekly cycle leading up to the Feast of the
Resurrection—Sunday.
The Great Fifty Days takes us from Easter Day itself,
through the Ascension of Our Lord and the Day of Pentecost. This emphasizes the
unity of Christ’s action in rising from the dead, ascending into Heaven, and
sending the Holy Spirit to empower the Church to do his work on earth. It takes
fifty days to properly celebrate this great action moving from the resurrection
to the proper birth of the Church.
Blessings,
David+
