At Element, starting this week, we will be taking 6 weeks to look at the book of Lamentations. Many people have asked me "why?" so I thought I would let you know.

Our lives are woven through seasons. Birth, infancy, adolescence, teenage, marriage, middle age, old age, death, and resurrection. Seasons of religious holidays as times of reflection and feasts were held in the Jewish Calendar:

In Biblical times, the following Jewish religious feasts were celebrated :

• Pesach (Passover) – 14 Nisan/Abib (sacrifice of a lamb), 15 Nisan/Abib (Passover seder)
• Shavuot (Pentecost) – 6 Sivan
• Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) – 10 Tishrei
• Sukkot (Tabernacles) – 15 Tishrei
• Hanukkah (Dedication or Lights) – 25 Kislev (instituted in 164 BC)
• Purim (Lots) – 14 Adar (instituted c. 400 BC)

These are based on the ancient names for months (from the Babylonian calendar):

1. Nisan (March-April)
2. Iyar (April-May)
3. Sivan (May-June)
4. Tammuz (June-July)
5. Av (July-August)
6. Elul (August-September)
7. Tishrei (September-October)
8. Cheshvan (October-November)
9. Kislev (November-December)
10. Tevet (December-January)
11. Shevat (January-February)
12. Adar (February-March)

Later, with the advent of Christianity, the church also had a liturgical calendar:

1. The liturgical year begins with Advent, the time of preparation for both the celebration of Jesus' birth. This season begins about 4 weeks before Christmas and lasts until 24 December (Christmas Eve).

2. Christmastide and Epiphany follow, beginning with First Vespers of Christmas on the evening of 24 December and ending with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

3. Lent is then celebrated (which starts about 6 weeks prior to Easter). Lent is period of purification and penance which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday.

4. Good Friday marks the beginning of the Easter Triduum, which includes Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. These days recall Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples, death on the cross, burial, and resurrection.

5. Then you have Pentecost which is a seven-week liturgical season of Easter that immediately follows the Triduum, climaxing at Pentecost. This feast recalls the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus' disciples after the Ascension of Jesus.

6. The rest of the liturgical year is commonly known as Ordinary Time.

This year we will do 6 weeks of reflection through the book of Lamentations, come into Easter, and then take 3 weeks to look at the Spirit. It isn't as long or as full as the liturgical calendar, but I thought it would be nice to give you a taste.