Just a pondering...

[ZooMom]

Hi. I hope you all have had a very blessed and peaceful Lent. You have been in my prayers, as always.

I was just thinking about Holy Thursday, and then wandered into Good Friday, Easter, etc...and an odd thought struck me as I was considering the Lenten calendar. I know the Orthodox follow a slightly different calendar for Lent and Easter, and they have liturgical reasons for it, I'm sure...but why do the protestants follow ours? I mean...a lot of them don't even recognize Lent, much less practice it. I seriously doubt they keep up with, much less support, the traditions behind the liturgical calendar. So, why? Why don't they pick one Sunday in spring to be 'their' Easter every year? Like the second Sunday in April, or something? Christmas is a fixed date, so that's understandable. But Easter? Anyone got any ideas?

Peace be with you!

Sandy

 

[MikeK]

I got nothin'....but a happy and blessed Easter to you and yours, ZooM!

 

[ZooMom]

Ha! Thanks! And to you and yours! Yeah, I couldn't come up with anything either. Laziness, maybe? It's just odd to me.

 

[ZooMom]

Do you think if I asked in the protestant forums it would make people angry? I really am curious. Is it something they just "do" without knowing the reason...is it because that's when the secular calendars say it is? Don't they wonder who decides or why it's different every year?

 

[Wolseley]

Probably because the Protestant bodies were a splinter from the Catholic Church, so they just kept the same reckoning as we do.

That's my guess, anyway, and I'm stickin' to it.

 

[ZooMom]

Probably because the Protestant bodies were a splinter from the Catholic Church, so they just kept the same reckoning as we do.

That's my guess, anyway, and I'm stickin' to it.

That's the thing, though. DO they reckon it? Or do they just go by what's printed on the calendar they picked up at Barnes&Noble? Do they even know that they are following Catholic tradition by celebrating Easter according to the Catholic liturgical calendar? I mean...they aren't getting the dates from Sola Scriptura.

 

[princess_ballet]

I've been seriously wondering the same thing. I've been seeing posts by them about Good Friday and Easter and I just don't get it. I have a friend that is very anti-Catholic and even he was posting stuff about Good Friday (in a positive light!).

If you do ask, I would love to know the answer.

 

[ebia]

Because its a better witness for all the church to celebrate it on the same day. And, of course, it coincides with public holidays in many countries.

The Reformation was never an attempt to ditch everything, as though that would even be meaningful. It was an attempt to lose the distortions.

 

[princess_ballet]

Because its a better witness for all the church to celebrate it on the same day. And, of course, it coincides with public holidays in many countries.

The Reformation was never an attempt to ditch everything, as though that would even be meaningful. It was an attempt to lose the distortions.

Except many of the most protestant of the Protestant groups (think: Dutch Reformed, Pentecostals) really did want to throw out the whole thing and start over. They get upset about Christmas, yet the celebrate Good Friday and Easter?

 

[ZooMom]

I'm not really talking about liturgical protestants, like Anglicans, or Methodists, etc. I'm talking more about the Sola Scriptura crowd. The ones that claim not to have any connection to the Catholic Church, and condemn all our "traditions of man". These people could care less about showing "church unity"...they don't even acknowledge us Christian. For them to then accept the determination of the Church regarding when Easter, one of the two biggest 'events' in Christianity, falls, is downright puzzling. What about all the little independent churches who don't belong to or recognize a larger group or association...do they just follow out of habit...ignorance...what?

 

[ebia]

I'm not really talking about liturgical protestants, like Anglicans, or Methodists, etc. I'm talking more about the Sola Scriptura crowd. The ones that claim not to have any connection to the Catholic Church, and condemn all our "traditions of man". These people could care less about showing "church unity"...they don't even acknowledge us Christian. For them to then accept the determination of the Church regarding when Easter, one of the two biggest 'events' in Christianity, falls, is downright puzzling. What about all the little independent churches who don't belong to or recognize a larger group or association...do they just follow out of habit...ignorance...what?

None of them have actually started from scratch - they're all evolved parts of the western church.

And let's face it, pascha is more closely connected with scripture. Scripture does say when Passover is. There are judgement calls on how to map that onto the modern calendar keeping it such that Resurrection morning is a Sunday, but the principle of doing so is rooted in scripture and dates much earlier than picking an almost arbitrary date for Christmas.

Also such denominations tend to be cross - focused (at the expense of incarnation, ascension and even resurrection) and so keeping a day for the crucifixion follows more naturally. Having decided to do that, there's no more biblically based way of calculating it. They may historically not want to stay in synch with Rome, but they may well want to stay in sync with other not-as-anti-roman churches descended from Calvin.

 

[tadoflamb]

I'm not really talking about liturgical protestants, like Anglicans, or Methodists, etc. I'm talking more about the Sola Scriptura crowd. The ones that claim not to have any connection to the Catholic Church, and condemn all our "traditions of man". These people could care less about showing "church unity"...they don't even acknowledge us Christian. For them to then accept the determination of the Church regarding when Easter, one of the two biggest 'events' in Christianity, falls, is downright puzzling. What about all the little independent churches who don't belong to or recognize a larger group or association...do they just follow out of habit...ignorance...what?

Yeah, why are 'resurrection celebrations' held on Easter Sunday? I mean, I'm happy to share the day, but if they're going to take some of it, I wish they'd take all of it.

Have a blessed Triduum!