What is the Christian Year?

Christians think of time differently. From a worldly standpoint, all of our plans and meetings drive us to one predictable end point--the grave. To put it bluntly, appointment calendars and smartphone reminders are nothing more than tools for marking off the days and hours that remain until our deaths. Christians, however, follow a different storyline--one of resurrection, which was revealed to us through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. This places us in a different relationship to time, pointing to an extraordinary end goal--one in which creation itself is healed by being remade. The liturgical calendar is a reminder that, while Christians still (temporarily) inhabit the world’s time, there is another reality at work, guiding and shaping God's resurrection plan for the entire cosmos.

From thirdrva.org

The circle to the right provides a visual summary of the seasons of the Christian calendar. Each one reminds us of some aspects of God's greater salvation purposes:

• Advent: Remembering Christ's first coming and anticipating his second.
• Christmas: God, in the form of the Son, took on flesh.
• Epiphany:  Jesus's earthly ministry, including his baptism, revealed that he is God.
• Lent: Jesus goes to the cross.
• Easter: Resurrection -- the promise of all things being made new.
• Pentecost: The Holy Spirit is poured out on the church as a fulfillment of Jesus's promises.

Constance Cherry, in a review of Paul Bradshaw and Maxwell Johnson's book about the seasons of the Christian year, tells us that this full-year pattern emerged over a period many centuries. It all began with Sunday serving as the center of all of the church's worship in Christ's resurrection. From the very beginning, Easter was an every-week celebration--the Lord's Day was a constant reminder of the key event the marks God's purposes for time. Perhaps it is fitting that Easter Sunday never lands on the same calendar day from year to year -- the fact that it shifts according to a different kind of time demonstrates that there is another kind of time at work. The Easter event anchors half of the events of the liturgical year -- it sets the beginning of Lent, the day of Ascension, and Pentecost. Christ’s incarnation anchors the other half of the liturgical calendar -- that is, Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany (which also uses the same color cycle of purple--white--green). All the Sundays in between the major days serve as road signs that guide us through scripture's salvation stories, all while reminding us of our future hope.