Easter based on astronomy counting backwards

Religion is a strange conversation especially when an Atheist, a Sikh, a Christian and a Catholic discuss it.  I am the Catholic.

The Atheist asked me a question how do we determine Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.  How many days are there?

Well, the Sikh is a mathematician and from the top of his head he came up with the number 45 days.  The Christian joined in, pulled out a calendar, started counting the number of days and confirmed its 45 days.

And I said: “You guys got it all wrong. Its 40 days excluding Sunday.”

A recount ensued to prove that it’s correct.  Of course, I am correct since I learnt from my error last year.  I sacrificed myself for more than 40 days and I didn’t turn “holy”.

The Atheist is still not satisfied.  Being an Atheist, she questions everything.  Fair enough since I question everything myself, too.  The next question was that these days keep on changing every year.  Sometimes Ash Wednesday is early then Easter is early, as well.

This time I’m stumped for I do not know the answer.  Being a Catholic when it comes to calendar of events, I just follow the schedule.  It’s a worthy question and this is something I really don’t have the answer.  Just like a good Catholic the answer can be found through Google.

Based on my research it all depends on:

• Spring Equinox
• Easter falls on the first Sunday after the full moon of the following month
• Ash Wednesday is counting 40 days backwards excluding Sundays

Spring was on March 21.  The first full moon the following month is on April 15. The first Sunday after the full moon is April 20 and this what we call Easter Sunday.   Back to the calendar, we all started counting backwards, excluding the Sundays and it worked. We were all filled with glee in learning new things.

The Atheist proclaimed: “Allah is good!” And I responded: “Thanks be to Google.”

This is the simplest way I can explain it to a cross cultural conversation without having to tell them about Paschal moon, Gregorian Calendar and  a conflict in the beginning between the Jewish and Christian calendar.

Atheist and Zen

What does an Atheist and a Zen have in common?  They are both have a column in Common Ground magazine.

David Suzuki writes an article about Science Matters.  He is an atheist. He denies the existence of God but his work, in my opinion, is about godly matters such as the Nature of Things.  His mind is fascinating and captivating.  He was born in Vancouver, Canada.  I have attended his lectures.  David wrote the book The Sacred Balance. 

Eckhart Tolle writes an article about Finding Zen.  He is the author of the Power of Now and his latest book, A New Earth.   A spiritual teacher, born in Germany and took residence in Vancouver.  I have never seen him nor read any of his books. 

Common Ground has articles about Sufism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sahaja Yoga, and Inter-Faith, to name a few.  However, I still have yet to see an article about Catholicism. 

Reading this magazine expands my curiosity about other belief systems.  The more I understand the more I become in tune with my own personal faith as a Catholic.  Catholic means “universal”. 

Excerpt from Suzuki: Science of Breathing:

“Your next breath will contain more than 400,000 of the argon atoms that Gandhi breathed in his long life. Argon atoms are here from the conversations at the Last Supper, from the arguments of diplomats at Yalta, and from the recitations of the classic poets. We have argon from the sighs and pledges of ancient lovers, from the battle cries at Waterloo, even from last year’s argonic output by the writer of these lines, who personally has had already more than 300 million breathing experiences.” 

About.com excerpt from New Earth:

“People believe themselves to be dependent on what happens for their happiness, that is to say, dependent on form. They don’t realize that what happens is the most unstable thing in the universe. It changes constantly. They look at the present moment as either marred by something that has happened and shouldn’t have or as deficient because of something that has not happened but should have. And so they miss the deeper perfection that is inherent in life itself, a perfection that is always already here, that lies beyond what is happening or not happening, beyond form.” 

QUOTE – Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard: Life must be lived forward, but can only be understood backward. 

Keeping this quote in mind, I don’t believe in the Power of Now.  However, I know what awareness, mindfulness and what is.  At least with the Science of Breathing, I learned about science as well as part of my faith, knowing that I am breathing in the argon of those people at the Last Supper.

 

 

Related articles

• Howyadoing? (perpetuasiglos.wordpress.com)
• News from David Suzuki & David Suzuki Foundation (lateralloveaustralia.com)