Just a couple weeks ago, we celebrated
Easter. Of course, we in the
English-speaking world are the only ones who use this term, or anything like
it. The ancient Church, and present day
Christians of other languages use some variation on the term Passover or
Resurrection to refer to the day of celebrating Jesus’ rising from death. This is because the day celebrates more than
a mere season, but an event that occurred in real time and space, and that
event is the anchor of a way of marking time completely different than that of
the surrounding world. Much like the
future eternal life of the Christian is one that will be lived out in space and
matter, the present life of the Church is also one marked within time and
space, rather than one which disregards these material facets of our
existence.
Days like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day,
Memorial Day, and Super Bowl Sunday are not a part of this calendar, since
those are national holidays, unique to the United States. Instead, this includes seasons like Advent,
Epiphany, or Lent, and festivals like Pentecost, Ascension, and All
Saints. The resurrection is the anchor
point of this calendar, as both the oldest and most significant event it
contains. Leading up to Resurrection
Sunday is a series of seasons and festivals related to the life of Jesus, and following
the 8-week festival of the Resurrection continues with a time that reflects on
the teachings of Jesus and the life of the Church as it awaits his return.
This way of
marking time was so prominent in the lives of Christians that during many
centuries of church history, they did not date their letters and speeches with
the Gregorian dates we presently see uniformly used, like March 25, 2021,
Instead, they would use a reference to the church year, such as “Fifth Sunday
in Lent, AD 2021” or “Thursday of Pentecost 12, AD 2021.” When we understand time in such a way, and
revolving around the life of Jesus, we also live, knowing that our future is in
His hands, and free from the anxiety of carefully watching the world’s dangers
and disasters, or and living by its time and its fears, but knowing with
certainty what is prayed during the Easter Vigil:
“Christ Jesus,
the same yesterday, today, and forever, the beginning and the ending, the Alpha
and the Omega. His are time and
eternity; His are the glory and dominion, now and forever. By His wounds we have healing both now and
forever… May the light of Christ, who is
risen in glory from the dead, scatter all the darkness of our hearts and minds…
Amen.”
