Archbishop Dolan's Thought for the Week

February 5, 2008

Dear Friends United in Love and Service of Jesus Christ and His Church:

Just yesterday, it seems, I was eating the last of the Christmas cookies, and here today I’m eating paczki! Yes, it’s Carnivale, Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, the eve of Ash Wednesday, the starting gun of Lent.

Everybody’s asking, “Why is Ash Wednesday so darn early this year?”

Of course, there’s only one answer: Because Easter is so early. This year, the great feast of Our Lord’s Resurrection is the soonest it can be on our calendar, March 23. (The date of Easter has something to do with the spring sun and moon. . . I’ve never been able to figure it out.)

Anyway, the date of Ash Wednesday depends on the date of Easter, because Lent is simply our forty days of preparation for that greatest of all feasts.

Which brings up a good point: actually, everything in life depends on Easter, doesn’t it? Whether or not you believe in Easter, when Jesus “passed over” from death to life, is the most pivotal decision one can make.

The answer to that question -- do you believe in Easter? -- resolves most of the other nagging questions of life: In the end, what will win?

death, or life?

despair, or hope?

hate, or love?

darkness, or light?

winter, or spring?

doubt, or faith?

nothingness, or eternity?

getting, or giving?

bullies, or nice guys?

hell, or heaven?

revenge, or mercy?

snow, or sun?

tears, or laughter?

isolation, or unity?

tension, or tenderness?

It really all depends on Easter, doesn’t it? Must be some great feast. That’s why we take forty days to get ready for it. Starts tomorrow.

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan

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