Celebrating sacred time

Faithful draw personal messages from symbolic Holy Week events
Lisa Pemberton
The Olympian (WA)

Holy Week - which begins this weekend - traces Jesus' journey from his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to his death on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

For many Christians, it's a time for self reflection and spiritual renewal.

"It can provide context for our own suffering, our own struggle," said the Rev. David James of St. John's Episcopal Church in Olympia.

It’s all here …

Easter plans hatch early this year
By Johanna Crosby
Cape Cod Online
March 16, 2008

With Easter coming so early this year, the Easter Bunny has to get hopping.

The last time Easter Sunday fell on March 23 was 1913, and it won't occur on that date again until 2160.

Easter Sunday — the Christian holy day that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ — is typically associated with April and spring flowers coloring the landscape.

"It's harder to think of Easter in the dead of winter," said John Terry, senior minister of the Federated Church of Hyannis.

Yet the March date isn't too far off the mark. According to the calendar, March 20 is the first day of spring, and clocks sprang ahead to daylight saving time March 9.

"It may not look or feel like spring," said Doug Scalise, senior pastor of Brewster Baptist Church, "yet the seeds of new life and the possibility of hope are still there."

How the date of Easter Sunday is determined is confusing even for believers.

It’s all here …plus this handy sidebar:

Easter is a movable feast that can occur within a 35-day span.
The earliest possible date for Easter is March 22, next occurring in 2285.
The latest it can occur is April 25.
The cycle of Easter dates repeats after exactly 5,700,000 years.
April 19 is the most common date for Easter.