Originally posted by breytonhartge:
slightly different content and two different ways of phrasing... trying to catch attention from all points?
Trying to confuse everybody from different angles you mean?
It is Holy Week and as we prepare to celebrate the mysteries of the Death and Resurrection of Our Lord, it is indeed opportune that we discuss this.
Fasting during Lent is pagan? Why, even Jesus himself fasted for 40 days in the desert. Is it wrong to imitate Him then? And what is so pagan about lighting candles and singing mourning hymns? Even the Jews light menorahs in their synagogues. As for Easter eggs and Easter bunnies, they have nothing to do with religious celebrations at all. We shall not discuss this.
Of course the word Easter is not mentioned in Scripture. Easter is a pagan word arising from pagan cultures and we do not deny that. But the proper word for this season is Pascha and is both used by the Eastern and Western Church. What I shall show is that the Easter we have now is not the Easter of the pagans, but that it is the celebration of the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ.
I understand your unease with inculturation and syncretism. But what use is the Gospel if nobody can understand it? It is wrong to explain it to the pagans in their own terms, redefined anew obviously?
IÂ’m sure we have all gone to an Easter service of some sort before. Have you heard the congregation praise Ishtar or any pagan gods? Who are they praising? Of coure they are praising Jesus Christ the Lord of Lords! It is that difficult to differentiate between the pagan Easter and the Christian Easter?
Since the Lord has commanded us to celebrate Passover, indeed we have and we shall. It is in observing Easter that we are observing the Passover. Christ himself is our Passover. At the Last Supper He instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist. I will quote Pope John Paul 2Â’s homily on Holy Thursday, 20 April 2000.
Christ ate the Passover Meal with his disciples in obedience to the Old Covenant prescriptions, but he gave the rite new substance. We have heard how Saint Paul explains it in the Second Reading, taken from the First Letter to the Corinthians. This text, which is thought to be the oldest account of the Lord’s Supper, recalls that Jesus, “on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body which is [given] for you. Do this in remembrance of me’. In the same way also the cup at the end of the meal, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me’. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor 11:23-26).
Note that every time we celebrate the Eucharist, it is celebrating the Passover, which has been redefined by the Lord himself. No more Old Covenant, but a New Covenant.
Furthermore,
Some who believe in the pagan origin of these holidays actually state that any Christian who celebrates them is unknowingly worshipping pagan deities. We can answer this by pointing out that a Christian who celebrates Easter does not intend to worship the goddess Eostra, but to commemorate the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. God looks upon the heart and sees His child's intention to worship Him, so He does not mistake it for idolatry.
http://home.nyc.rr.com/mysticalrose/pagan8.htmlJesus has explicitly commanded us to celebrate Pascha. But letÂ’s look at something else. Jesus never asked us to celebrate His birthday either. If we neither celebrate His birth, death and resurrection, what are we doing yearly to remember all this?
Jesus Christ is our Passover!