Lent, Passover and Easter: 10 story ideas

Posted on March 6th, 2006

Archived in Writing

Translate this page

It’s our annual serving of story ideas for Christian and Jewish holidays. Lent began Wednesday, Easter is April 16, and Orthodox Easter is April 23. Passover begins at sundown April 12.

‘New Monasticism’ and monastic chic

Monasticism is making a comeback, in two surprising and very different ways. Lent, traditionally a period of introspection for Christians, is an opportunity to explore these two trends, one reaching back to the earliest days of Christianity and the other a modern response to the frenetic pace of contemporary life.

The “New Monasticism,” as it’s being called, sounds a lot like the communal living of the Sixties — groups of people living and working together for the betterment of all, rejecting the status quo and its materialistic ways. But unlike the flower power movement, those involved in new monasticism are not on a journey of personal discovery in an idyllic natural setting. Instead, they are living among and serving the poor in the nation’s most blighted areas. They subscribe to a life of voluntary poverty, community living and prayer.

In 2004, at a conference near Duke University, a new monastic community called the Rutba House gathered preachers and academics, activists and community members from different states, denominations, and ethnic and social backgrounds. At the conference, the 12 Marks of a New Monasticism were established. Rutba House’s web site describes the community and others like it around the nation and gives resources for exploring New Monasticism. The community has also published a book, School(s) of Conversion: 12 Marks of a New Monasticism (Cascade Books, 2005).

In contrast, “monastic chic” caters to people seeking brief solace from the frustrations of modern life. Contemplative communities of various religious stripes have opened their doors, offering temporary retreats to those seeking peace and quiet for spiritual contemplation. While such retreats have been offered for years, observers say they continue to gain in popularity around the country

RESOURCES

• Read a September 2005 Christianity Today article on New Monasticism.

• Read an account of the New Monasticism movement in the fall 2005 issue of the journal Divinity from the Duke Divinity School.

• The Simple Way is a New Monasticism movement based in Philadelphia.

• The Lindisfarne Community is a neomonastic network that offers various links and an FAQ on the movement.

• The Prayer Foundation has a history of New Monasticism and its roots.

• Read a Jan. 16, 2005, Boston Globe article on a religious retreat in Tucson, Ariz.

• A Feb. 18, 2005, New York Times article describes an Eastern Catholic Maronite monastery in Massachusetts that offers spiritual retreats. The story also has links to other monasteries around the country that open their doors to the public for spiritual retreats.

Poverty and politics

Lent is popularly considered a season of self-denial, during which Christians “give up” various personal indulgences – chocolate, alcohol, meat and the like – in order to focus more clearly on their inner spiritual life and on their relationship with God. Increasingly, however, churches are stressing the importance of doing for others, especially the less fortunate, as a means of spiritual growth. That has led to a greater effort to talk about the connection between Christianity and social justice during Lent, a season that this year coincides with a bruising public debate over the 2006 federal budget.

Many Christian leaders believe the 2007 budget, which was presented by President Bush in February and is currently being debated, unfairly targets the poor and vulnerable while unfairly rewarding the wealthy, as Yonce Shelton of Call to Renewal explains in this article in Sojourners magazine. National Catholic Reporter published this Feb. 17 editorial. Several Christian leaders were arrested during a December budget protest on Capitol Hill. But many Christian leaders on the conservative side of the aisle see the matter differently. A recent flashpoint was the narrow passage in February of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, as this Christianity Today article explains.

The budget showdown is seen by many as a microcosm of the growing debate between conservative and liberal Christians over how – and whether – the federal government should be caring for the poor. Increasingly, experts say, the issue is making strange bedfellows, as some traditionally conservative Christians are growing uneasy with the nation’s budget priorities.

RESOURCES

For interview sources, turn to several past ReligionLink issues about poverty and related issues:

• Federal budget item No. 1: values (March 14, 2005)

• Faith-based social services: the human factor (Dec. 19, 2005)

• Uninsured pose moral as well as economic challenge (July 12, 2004)

• Left behind: the poorest of the poor (Oct. 27, 2003)

Catholics, corned beef and St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day, honoring the Catholic saint credited with converting much of Ireland to Christianity in the fifth century, falls on a Friday during Lent this year. In response, 13 Roman Catholic U.S. dioceses – at last count – have announced that Catholics may forgo the usual ban on eating meat on that Friday so that they can consume corned beef, according to Rocco Palmo’s WhispersintheLoggia web site. While ReligionLink has not called these dioceses to confirm this report, we’re certain that reporters will want to pursue this story.

It’s a great opportunity to explore the legacy of the Irish in American Catholicism. The Irish dominated Catholic culture in the United States for most of its history, and most U.S. bishops and priests have been Irish. That’s changing, with the influx of Hispanics and the decrease of Irish priests and lay people coming to America. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church in America is changing as well, with new diversity among its ranks.

Catholics who are given dispensation to eat corned beef on March 17 are generally being asked to do some act of penance or charity instead. What do Irish Catholics – and Irish bishops and priests – say they’ll do? By the way, corned beef is actually more of an American tradition, according to Irish Catholics, who say that in Ireland St. Patrick’s Day is known more as a church holiday than as a day of revelry. St. Patrick was known for establishing monasteries, schools and churches throughout Ireland.

RESOURCES

• James O’Toole is a history professor at Boston College who specializes in American Catholic history and popular devotional practices. Contact 617-552-8456, james.otoole@bc.edu.

• John T. McGreevy is a respected historian of U.S. Catholicism. He is history professor and department chair at Notre Dame University in Indiana. Contact 574-631-7266, John.T.McGreevy.5@nd.edu.

• Timothy Muldoon is director of the Church in the 21st Century Initiative at Boston College. Its research includes the state of Catholic ministry in America. He has a blog. Contact 617-552-0470, muldoont@bc.edu.

• Lawrence J. McCaffrey is author of The Irish-Catholic Diaspora in America (Catholic University of America Press, 1998) and professor emeritus of history at Loyola University in Chicago. Contact 847-475-7690, ljpmcc@aol.com.

• Thomas Cahill, an Irish Catholic, is author of How the Irish Saved Civilization (Anchor, 1996). He can be emailed through the web site of his current publisher.

• The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., conducts social scientific studies about the Catholic Church. Contact 202-687-8080.

• See the Catholic Forum’s entry on Saint Patrick.

• Read about St. Patrick’s Day at St-Patricks-day.com.

Passover outreach

Passover is the most celebrated of all Jewish holidays and the one that is most likely to be observed by Jews who don’t attend synagogue. It’s also increasingly being recognized as an opportunity for reaching out to non-affiliated and non-practicing Jews as well as Jews in interfaith marriages. The eight-day holiday, which begins at sundown on April 12 this year and ends with nightfall April 20, commemorates the Israelites’ freedom after generations of slavery in Egypt. Its most prominent feature is a Seder meal, in which family and friends gather for a ritualized meal that includes the retelling of the Exodus story.

The U.S. Jewish population is grappling with decreasing numbers and falling levels of synagogue affiliation and practice. Nearly half of Jews who married since 1996 wed people of other faiths, and only one-third of their children are being raised Jewish, according to the most recent National Jewish Population Survey. Jewish communities are divided over whether Jews should encourage conversion when they traditionally have not. However, outreach to younger Jews and non-practicing Jews is increasingly considered essential to sustaining Jewish life in America. This year the Jewish Outreach Institute, which does outreach to interfaith families, is promoting a program called “Passover in the Aisles,” in which they are encouraging synagogue members to reach out to non-affiliated Jews in supermarkets right before Passover. The idea is to meet Jews and invite them to synagogue in a comfortable manner. Are synagogues and Jewish institutions in your area approaching Passover as an outreach opportunity?

RESOURCES

• For more information about the Jewish Outreach Institute’s “Passover in the Aisles” program, contact Eva Stern at 212-760-1440, EStern@JOI.org.

• Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald is founder of the National Jewish Outreach Program, which tries to keep Jews engaged in Jewish life, particularly when the cause was assimilation or lack of Jewish knowledge. It sponsors the annual Shabbat Across America program. Contact 646-871-4444.

• The National Center to Encourage Judaism encourages retention in Judaism and conversion. Contact president@ncejudaism.org.

• Jan Rips is chair of ClickOnJudaism, which encourages Jews in their 20s and 30s to practice the faith and encourages conversion. It’s sponsored by the Union for Reform Judaism. Contact 212-650-4230.

• Read a Feb. 27, 2006, JTA article about the 10-year anniversary (March 3) of the national Shabbat Across America program. It includes concerns about its Orthodox emphasis.

Get in touch with the dark side

The time before Easter is traditionally a dark time on the liturgical calendar. Many Christians express discomfort with its contemplation and remembrance of Christ’s betrayal, abandonment and suffering, preferring the “light” – and lightheartedness – of Easter. But more Christians are beginning to embrace the spiritual value of darkness, participating in Buddhist-inspired “dark retreats” and candlelit Tenebrae – Latin for “shadows” — services.

RESOURCES

• Martin Lowenthal is the founder and director of the Dedicated Life Institute in Newton, Mass. He is also the author of Dawning of Clear Light: A Western Approach to Tibetan Dark Retreat (Hampton Roads, 2003). Contact 617- 527-8606.

• Joan Halifax is the author of Fruitful Darkness: A Journey Through Buddhist Practice and Tribal Wisdom (Grove Press, 2004). She is the founder of Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, N.M. Contact 505-986-8518.

• Mirabai Starr is an adjunct professor of religious studies and philosophy at the University of New Mexico in Taos. She is the translator of St. John of the Cross’ Dark Night of the Soul (Riverhead, 2002). Contact mail@mirabaistarr.com.

• Michael Stillwater is the founder of Inner Harmony. With his partner, Doris Laesser, he led a group of Americans on a dark retreat in Switzerland in January 2006. He lives in Marin County, Calif. Contact Michael@innerharmony.com.

• The Rev. John Chryssavgis is author of Light Through Darkness: The Orthodox Tradition (Orbis Books, 2004) and professor of theology at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. Contact 617-731-3500.

• The Rev. Meredith Allen is the minister of congregational life at West Concord Union Church in Concord, Mass. In 2004, she delivered a sermon about the necessity of “darkness” to spiritual growth. Contact 978-369-6309.

• Read about Tenebrae services on the Rev. Ken Collins’ web site and in New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia.

Foot-washing: a spiritual feat

You kneel, bow your head, take a person’s feet in your hands and wash them gently. This ritual – taken from the account in John’s Gospel of Jesus’ washing his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper – is re-created in many churches on Maundy Thursday. Not all Christians are comfortable with it, and contemporary re-enactments have not been without controversy. But some say this ritual – kneeling in service, physically touching another person, washing away dirt and pain – can have profound spiritual implications for a deeply divided world. It has sometimes been practiced in recognition of the pains of history – with Hutus and Tutsis washing each other’s feet (at the 2004 World Evangelization Forum), with people washing the feet of those of other races or religions. What does it mean to wash the feet of someone who has been a friend, an enemy, a stranger, someone overlooked by the world? Which is more difficult – to kneel before someone in service, or to accept their cleansing of you?

RESOURCES

• Read an article on the history of foot-washing (and the connection between this ceremony and baptism) from the Catholic Encyclopedia.

• Read a June 28, 2005, story from Christian Century describing foot-washing as an often forgotten part of Christian liturgy – and that doing it means “never seeing another person as beneath oneself.”

• Read a Maundy Thursday sermon given on March 24, 2005, by the Rev. Luis Benavides, a United Methodist minister from Pittsfield, Mass. Benavides describes a chaplain from Bolivia asking 6,000 prison inmates to wash each other’s feet – and what it is like to kneel and wash the dirty, tired, calloused feet of the poor.

• Read a sermon from April 2004 in which Lorraine Ljunggren, an Episcopal priest from Raleigh, N.C., talks of being scared to death the first time she participated in foot-washing – and how she now sees it as sacramental, as “among the most powerful experiences we share.” She writes that “Christian and non-Christian alike, the leaders of the world would do well to do for one another what we do this night. … It just might bring an end to war and cruelty, to selfishness and divisions.”

• Read an April 10, 2004, Boston Globe story describing how Roman Catholic Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley declined to wash the feet of women on Holy Thursday, saying that Jesus had only male disciples. O’Malley changed his position in 2005 – see a March 19, 2005, Boston Globe story.

• In Atlanta, Archbishop John F. Donoghue ordered priests from that archdiocese not to wash women’s feet; read an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story from April 2, 2004, and an April 23, 2004, story, from the National Catholic Reporter about the controversy.

• The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy has published a Q & A piece on foot-washing – explaining, in part, the history and theology of the practice, how it had fallen out of favor and how Pope Pius XXII restored it to popular practice in 1955.

Good Friday, the Latino Catholic way

The Way, or Stations, of the Cross is a tradition of honoring Jesus’ journey from trial to death that is as old as Christianity. Latinos have their own distinctive way of re-enacting Via Cruces, one that is usually more public, more passionate and more connected to the suffering and oppression experienced in contemporary life. Latinos — now the country’s largest minority, at 41 million or 14 percent of the population — are also dispersing, bringing Hispanics into more communities and congregations. Thirty-nine percent of U.S. Catholics are Hispanic, and Hispanics accounted for 71 percent of Catholic growth from 1960 to 2001, according to statistics from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. If Latino Catholics in your community re-enact Via Cruces, it is a wonderful narrative, set against the changing demographics of Catholicism and the United States.

RESOURCES

• Timothy Matovina is an expert in Latino theology and culture and director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame. Contact 574-631-3841.

• Ronaldo Cruz is executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs, whose mission is to assist the Catholic Church in its efforts to serve the large Hispanic population in the United States. Contact 202-541-3154, rcruz@usccb.org.

• Esdras Betancourt is director of the Hispanic ministries department of the Church of God, in Cleveland, Tenn. Contact 423-478-7100 or 800-451-2441.

• Read a New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia entry on the history of the Way – or Stations – of the Cross.

• Read the transcript of a June 13, 2003, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly show about Latino religion, including a description of a Latino Way of the Cross procession.

• Read a report posted by FACSNET on the changing demographics within Latino religion.

Good Friday: Secular holiday? Religious holiday? Both?

In December, some Christian groups pressured retailers, schools and others to acknowledge Christmas instead of substituting a generic or secular holiday. Will the same happen with Good Friday, which has seen its share of skirmishes over its place on public school and government calendars? In the last year, most Good Friday debates have occurred in local school districts or governments rather than state or national legislatures or courts. Currently 12 states observe Good Friday as a holiday on which state government offices and public schools close. In a handful of other states, only government offices are closed on Good Friday, or the day is an optional holiday. The latest:

• In November the Hillsborough County School District in Florida voted to reinstate Good Friday, Easter Monday and Yom Kippur to its school calendar after receiving 3,500 emails from across the country. The board had initially decided to remove the holidays rather than adding the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which ends the month of Ramadan. Muslim parents rescinded their request, saying they did not want it to result in having Christian and Jewish holidays removed from the calendar. (Read a Nov. 9, 2005 Tampa Tribune story.)

• In February, the Skokie, Ill., District School Board voted to continue holding classes on Good Friday and Yom Kippur, despite parent and teacher objections. One parent told the Chicago Tribune, “I think there was a lot of talk about treating all religions equally. In reality, I think they were talking about treating us equally badly.” (Read a Feb. 16, 2006, Chicago Tribune story.)

• In December, more than 200 people marched into the Greencastle, Ind., City Council chambers singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas to protest the council’s decision to substitute the names “winter holiday” and “spring holiday” for Christmas and Good Friday on the city calendar. The council voted 4-0 to change the calendar back. (Read a Dec. 20, 2005, News 8 report.)

Church-state separationists and some non-Christians have criticized making a government holiday out of the day Christians commemorate Jesus’ death on the cross. Legal challenges have been filed to mixed results. The 9th, 6th and 4th U.S. Circuit Courts have upheld laws that make Good Friday a holiday for either schools or state employees, saying that because Easter has become increasingly secularized, the Friday before Easter has become a traditional day to start preparations for days off that benefit people of all religions. However, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court ruled that such laws were unconstitutional in closing schools, but not for giving state employees a day off if the government could give a legitimate secular reason for doing so. In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to review the 4th U.S. Circuit Court ruling, allowing the conflicting rulings from the various Circuit Courts to stand. In 2001 the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a ruling that said Christmas could be a federal holiday because it had secular as well as religious purposes.

RESOURCES

• Check out ReligionLink’s new Guide to Church-State Experts and Organizations for interview sources.

• Read an American Atheists commentary on a Jan. 19, 2000, decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to allow a Maryland statute to stand. The statute requires public schools to close on Good Friday. It lists the states that have Good Friday holidays and relevant court cases.

• A segment on the web site About.com looks at the legal questions surrounding making Good Friday a state holiday.

• Religioustolerance.com offer a snapshot of the court decisions involving Good Friday holidays.

• Read a Dec. 21, 2000, Associated Press story posted by the Cincinnati Enquirer about a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that Christmas can continue to be a legal holiday, as it has been since 1870, because it has a secular purpose.

• Read the Becket Fund’s page on Ganulin v. United States, in which a Cincinnati lawyer filed suit to argue that Christmas should not be designated a federal holiday because doing so is a government endorsement of Christianity.

Baptisms – of all kinds — abound

Since the earliest days of the church, Easter has been a time to present new converts for entrance into the church through baptism. The tradition of wearing new clothes on Easter comes in part from the fresh white robes people wore as they were led into the church for baptism. In many churches that Easter tradition of baptism – of making new commitments of faith on Holy Saturday or on Easter Sunday itself – remains strong, offering great storytelling opportunities about changed hearts and searches for God as well as the contrast of how different traditions embrace and initiate new converts.

The ways of baptisms are as varied as the Christian church itself. Some dunk, some sprinkle. Some baptize infants, others wait for an age of reason or the movement of the Holy Spirit. Tradition takes a modern spin as churches emphasize convenience – by baptizing in the local swimming pool – or creativity – baptisms broadcast on the Internet for far-flung relatives to witness. And some churches are putting new emphasis on old traditions by insisting on more careful preparation of adult or child converts for membership in the church. The significance of adult conversions to faith is particularly potent in a country with a strong secular influence, in which many people live outside the sway of organized religion.

RESOURCES

• The Roman Catholic Church welcomes thousands of new believers into the faith each year at Easter Vigil. Some are converts from Protestantism, but those who are new Christians make the sacraments of baptism, First Eucharist and confirmation all in one momentous night. Read the blog of a lifelong Methodist who became a Catholic during Easter vigil 2005.

• The Rev. Frank Quinn is professor of sacramental and liturgical theology at the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis. Contact 314-256-8866, quinn@ai.edu.

• A bunch of new books on baptism are being released this year. Among them: A User’s Guide to Baptism and Confirmation, by Christopher L. Webber, an Episcopal priest (Morehouse Publishing); The Baptism of Your Child: A Book for Presbyterian Families, by Christian educator Carol Wehrheim (Geneva Press); and Reformation and Modern Rituals and Theologies of Baptism: From Luther to Contemporary Practices, by Bryan D. Spinks, a professor of liturgical studies at Yale Divinity School (Ashgate Publishing Co.), due out in May.

• Read a story from the March 24, 1999, Christian Century describing a trend in both Catholic and Protestant churches toward more conscious, careful preparation of “catechumenates,” or adults who want to be initiated into the church.

• Read a Jan. 12, 2003, sermon that Charles Rush gave at Christ Church in Summit, N.J., describing the Easter tradition of baptism in the ancient church.

• The Santa Barbara, Calif., Seventh-day Adventist Church recently video streamed a baptism live over the Internet, allowing 50 relatives in Argentina, Chile and other countries to watch. Read an account.

Icons at Easter

Iconography is figuring prominently in religion news this year, from cartoon depictions of Muhammad to the soon-to-be-released film The DaVinci Code. For many Christians, symbols play an important part in Easter observances, whether it’s the cross (or crucifix), lilies or even Easter eggs. Consider providing a story and/or photo essay on Easter symbols, their origins and how they differ from one church to the next in your area. Western Christians celebrate Easter on April 16, and Orthodox Christians, who have a rich history of iconography, celebrate Easter on April 23.