From the Pastor April 19/20

It’s Easter Everywhere!

That might sound like I’m stating the obvious, but today we have the unusual circumstance of all Christians in every nation and in every Christian denomination celebrating Easter on the same day. That doesn’t happen all that often because different denominations use different calendars. The Catholic Church and Protestant denominations use the Gregorian Calendar while the Churches of the East use the Julian Calendar.

Pope Gregory XIII, for whom the Gregorian Calendar is named, reformed the Julian Calendar in 1582. It was necessary because the Julian Calendar, developed in the days of Julius Ceasar, had gained eleven days because of a mistake calculating leap years. This caused the calendar day for the spring equinox to be eleven days later than the astronomical equinox. While most of the world adopted the Gregorian Calendar, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, because of the Great Schism between the Churches of the East and West in 1054, refused to adopt the new calendar named for a pope. They still use the Julian calendar, and the Orthodox sometimes celebrate Easter a month later than the Western Church. Popes going back to Pope Paul VI have expressed an openness to changing the date of Easter if the Orthodox can agree on a date, but that has not happened.

It is opportune that all Christians are celebrating Easter today because this year is the 1700 anniversary of the first ecumenical council held at Nicaea in 325 A.D. One of the primary endeavors of the council was to establish a uniform date for Easter. Up to that time the date for Easter varied widely in the Church. The Council Fathers felt a consistent date for Easter would prove to be a unifying sign for the Church. They decided to celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon of Spring. Wouldn’t it be an appropriate celebration of the Nicene anniversary if all Christian could celebrate Easter the same day every year again? Pope Francis is planning a trip to the Turkish site of the ancient city of Nicaea in May. There with Bartholomew, the Patriarch of Constantinople, they will celebrate the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. Progress on this matter might occur there. 

Setting a date for Easter wasn’t the council’s only task. The council spent three months developing the Nicaean Creed, the long prayer recited even today by Christians at the middle of the Mass as our statement of faith. They also declared Arianism, the belief that Jesus was only of a human nature, a heresy. Our Christian belief is that Jesus is one person of the Holy Trinity but of two natures, human and divine. 

As we celebrate the Nicene anniversary it is good to work for and pray for Christian unity. An editorial in the Jesuit magazine America recently said, “Our celebration of Nicaea and our recognition of what we share in common can also offer us another important lesson: Unity is not always born in harmony. The end result of Nicaea might have been the establishment of a common creed, but the council itself was hardly an occasion of peaceful or complete agreement.” “[T]he council only accomplished it after intense debate and occasional physical violence among the more than three hundred bishops present.

The history of the Council of Nicaea provides us with the insight that the Church has a very human face where contention exists and egos clash. Expectations of unity can be messy. A document of expectations or exchange of affection doesn’t always bring total agreement, but if we engage in good faith a greater unity can come as it did as a result of the Council of Nicaea. 

Filling Your Lenten Folders

During Lent parishioners have been filling their Lenten Folder as an almsgiving activity. They put aside 25c each day for a total of $10 throughout Lent. You can return your folders to one of the Collection boxes by the Welcome Desks at the church doors. Please convert the quarters into currency or a check. We will donate the proceeds from the folders to the Cape Cod Foster Closet. The Closet is a charity that provides clothing and other essentials to foster parents welcoming a child from state custody into their home. Providing a home for a foster child is a very generous gesture from these people, and we need to support them. 

Earth Week Spring Clean-Up

Parishioners plan to join the Chatham Conservation Foundation’s Earth Week Clean-up on Saturday, April 26, at 9:00 or 11:00 am to pick up litter and winter debris from CCF properties around town. Last year, Holy Redeemer recruited the most people for this effort. Let’s do it again this year. Sign up at the welcome desk today. 

Lower/Outer Cape Young Adult Group Forming

A Young Catholic Adult Group for those aged 19-35 is being formed in the Lower/Outer Cape Area to socialize, play, and pray together. If you are interested in joining, please contact Colin Murphy at YACapeCod@gmail.com

Canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis

Pope Francis will canonize Blessed Carlo Acutis at a special Holy Year event for youth next Sunday, April 27, 2025. Blessed Carlo will be the first Millennial saint. Carlo was a young Italian teenager with a special devotion to Eucharistic Miracles. As a computer-savvy youth, he developed a website to share information about these miracles. While not coming from a particularly devote family, his childhood nannies helped him build his faith. 

In many ways, Carlo was a typical millennial child enjoying computer games, soccer, and other pursuits. While not being showy about his faith to his peers, they recognized him for his kindness and sensitivity to others. His example caused several people he was in contact with to inquire about Catholicism and seek baptism. 

At age fifteen, Carlo died on October 12, 2006, only eleven days after the onset of an extremely aggressive form of leukemia. On his deathbed, Carlo predicted to his mother that he would become a saint. His canonization, a process that can take centuries, will occur less than twenty years after his death, 

A movie, Carlo Acutis: Roadmap to Reality, will open in theaters from April 27-29. The movie will be shown here on Cape Cod at the Regal Cinemas at Mashpee Commons. The screen time is 4 pm on April 27 and 7 pm on April 28 & 29. If five thousand tickets are sold, the movie will be screened for an additional three days. 

In celebration of Blessed Carlo’s canonization Holy Trinity Parish, Rte. 28, W. Harwich is holding a service on Tuesday, April 29, 6-8 p.m. It will include a Eucharistic Holy Hour and an opportunity to venerate a relic of St. Carlo.