A blessed Lent to you and yours!
I’m very excited to present this particular issue of The Catholic Echo to you because of its abundance of Lenten content. You see, normally, we would be writing about Lent in February—because the season of Lent most often begins in February—and you may or may not have noticed, but our February issue is also our smallest issue of the year. Then, in March, I’d expect to be covering Holy Week and Easter, because even if Easter is in early April, I’d want to make sure we have it covered early and thoroughly.
But here we are—with Ash Wednesday on March 5 and Easter falling on April 20! Without delving too far into it—in case it becomes a future Faith Fact in this magazine—I’d like to answer the question of WHY these liturgical seasons are so late in the calendar year for 2025.
It has to do with the “Paschal Full Moon,” which is what the Church determines to be the first full moon after the spring equinox (and it sometimes falls within a day or two of the astronomical full moon). Easter is always celebrated the first full weekend after the Paschal Full Moon. In the case of this year, the Paschal Full Moon occurs on Saturday, April 12. Thus, Easter is April 20 and—counting back six weeks—Ash Wednesday is March 5.
It’s fun stuff! And hopefully you’ll find the rest of this magazine to be interesting as well. There is a feature story on page 14, dedicated to the “three Ts” of Stewardship—time, talent and treasure. On page 18 is a lovely reflection from Deacon Chris Germack, of Immaculate Conception Parish in Ravenna, on being a grandparent. Then, we have all our Lenten content—from Father Manning’s “All About Lent” column on page 30, to our reflection on Saint Joseph’s Table on page 28, to our fish fry directory on page 20, to Bishop Bonnar’s column on page 3 (in English) and 4 (in Spanish)—he offers a lot of lovely insights on embracing the season.
Thanks for reading! Until next month,
Katie Wagner
