January 5, 2025
Dear Parish Family,
Happy Epiphany! Today we celebrate the manifestation of the Baby Jesus to the world by the star and the three kings who searched for and found him. Traditionally, the Epiphany is on January 6, the 12th Day of Christmas. But in many parts of the world it is moved to the first Sunday after January 1.
While Christmas Day always occurs on December 25, the date of Easter changes each year. After much debate, the Church decided that Easter would be the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox (an association with Jewish Passover), which means Easter can fall on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25. From that date, many important feasts of the Church year are then scheduled for the year.
Before yearly calendars were printed—and way before Google and Outlook calendars— there needed to be a way to let people know when these “movable” feasts would be. So on the Epiphany, the important dates for that year were “proclaimed” at Mass with a formal announcement. In that tradition, here are the movable feasts for 2025:
March 5: Ash Wednesday
April 20: Easter Sunday
May 29: Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ
June 8: Pentecost Sunday
November 30: First Sunday of Advent
Think about what the important dates of your life will be this year. What are the birthdays, anniversaries, memorials, etc. that you will celebrate? Allow God to be part of them. May this year be a good one for all of us.
Don’t forget our Epiphany Concert today at 4:00 p.m. The Good Shepherd Choir will be joined by the choirs from Saint Theresa, Saint Patrick (Carlisle), Our Lady of Good Counsel (Marysville), and Saint Bernadette (Duncannon) as well as the debut of our very own Hand Chime Choir. Bishop Senior will also be here to play the piano, Bernadette Bratina to sing, I will even be at the organ. See you there!
Grace and peace!
Father Neil Sullivan