This is the acclamation Christians use as we greet each other on this Feast of Feasts. The response is: The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia! Go ahead; give it a try during coffee hour. If you get a blank look, show them this bulletin cover.
Calculating the date of Easter is a mystery to most of us. Without getting technical, the date is calculated based on the lunar cycle and will always fall between March 22 and April 25th. So this year, Easter on April 24th is pretty close!
Churches that follow the Western Christian tradition (Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and other Protestant churches) base their calculations on the Gregorian calendar (that’s the calendar you and I use every day). Eastern churches, however, maintain the use of an older calendar, called the Julian calendar, which means most of the time Easter falls on different days for Christians around the world.
This year, 2011 of our Lord, both Eastern and Western Churches celebrate Easter on Aril 24th. Coincidentally, the date of Easter on both calendars fell on April 4th in 2010. There has been a movement to coordinate the date of Easter for all churches, but nothing has come of it yet. We share the date of Easter again in 2014, and again in 2017.
But Easter is much more than one day on a calendar. For one thing, it’s a whole season – the oldest season of the Church’s year – lasting until the Day of Pentecost. St Athanasius called these fifty days “magna dominica, the great Sunday”. It’s as if one day is not enough to contain everything Easter means to us.
Every time we gather on a Sunday at any time of the church year, it’s an Easter celebration. Every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper on the Lord’s Day, we remember his death and resurrection. Whenever we live life to the fullest, sharing our life with the world God loves, living in hope and joy, we have a share in the resurrection of our Lord, and it is Easter morning once again, whatever day or time it is.