Movable Feasts

The Passover Seder in the last few years has fallen on the same day as Good Friday (for Protestants and Catholics). It’s a little busy when all the services and Holy Days for the two major religions are in the same week. In 2016, Passover begins April 22^nd, and our LC Passover Seder is April 23^rd. Easter for Protestants and Catholics was on March 27^th, and Orthodox Easter this year is not until May 1^st. Someone asked me why the dates change so much from year to year, and I knew it had something to do with the vernal equinox – but when I looked up the details, I was reminded about how religious unity is so complicated.

First you have to understand the dates of Passover, which begins on the 15^th day of Nisan, the seventh month on the Jewish calendar – or actually at sundown on the 14^th day, since days begin and end at sundown on the Jewish calendar. While Passover recants the history of the Hebrew exodus from Egyptian slavery, the Christian holiday of Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Biblically, the events of the crucifixion and resurrection follow the celebration of Passover, so fixing a date for Easter depends on the Hebrew calendar as well.

Christianity is basically divided into three main groups, Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians. Since I am generalizing a bit, I’ll just say that the groups split because of geography, politics, money, power, and even some theology.

Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, but Protestants and Catholics use the Gregorian calendar while Orthodox Christians rely on the Julian calendar. While this seems simple, it is actually harder to define a full moon and decide the precise equinox – I will leave that part out for now. The Orthodox churches always celebrate Easter after Passover, although in Western Christianity it is possible for Easter to occur before Passover (which isn’t in perfect alignment Biblically). Most of the Easter calculations got hashed out at the Council of Nicea in 325 CE, so we have been attending to details for a long time.

At the Spiritual Life Center we are just happy that all three celebrations are spaced out this year – it is so much more practical for an interfaith/ecumenical campus to be able to give each celebration its due.

Universally spring is a time of new beginnings, whether a time of remembering freedom or resurrecting or new birth or just the return of green after winter. We can get outside more comfortably and the days have more sun. The next time you encounter diversity of faith or culture, remember that some of the “rules” that define our different traditions are quite longstanding and more detailed than most of us want to know. I encourage you to focus on what we share as faithful people – traditions, passion for justice, freedom, care for others, and loving hearts rather than where we move our feast days.

Blessings, Stephanie