Paschal Precept
Each of the faithful is obliged to receive Holy Communion at least once a year. This is to be done between Ash Wednesday (17 February) and Trinity Sunday (30 May) unless for a good reason it is done at another time during the year. All the faithful are obliged to confess their grave sins at least once a year.

Date of Easter
The earliest date that Easter can possibly fall on is 22 March. This occurs roughly once every two centuries. The Jewish calendar is lunar; the Julian calendar is solar; the Church's calendar is a holy marriage of both. This means saints' feasts are fixed to the yearly calendar, such as Christmas; but Easter was set by the Council of Nicea as the first Sunday after Passover. Pope Gregory reformed the calendar in 1582. He devised a formula which closely follows the first Sunday after the Passover rubric of Nicea, providing a reliable way of letting everyone know well ahead of time when Easter and its associated feasts were to be celebrated. (Guy Consolmagno SJ, Vatican Observatory, The Tablet 5 January 2008)

Bishop's Lenten Pastoral Message: Our Journey of Love
My Lenten Pastoral Letter this year will again be delivered to all parishes and church communities on DVD and CD. 'Hard' (paper) copies will also be made available so that the Pastoral Letter may be photocopied for distribution to the people for further reflection. It is to be the homily for the 6th Sunday of the Year.

Lenten Penance
The instructions for Lenten Penance and the Paschal Precept are included for explanation to the people and for inclusion on your noticeboard. People should be reminded that Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of abstinence from meat for everyone, as well as days of fast for those bound to fast.

Lenten Penance Obligations
The Lenten Penance Obligations (Paschal Precept, box above) could well be printed in your parish bulletin during Lent and towards the end of the Easter Season.

Six Session Lenten Program: "Do you love me?"
Our diocesan Lenten Program has already been widely distributed. Please encourage parishioners to form groups as you promote it at your parish for both group use and personal use.

Project Compassion: "Blueprint for a better world"
The Diocesan Director of Caritas, Tom van Kints, will have Project Compassion material delivered to parishes prior to Ash Wednesday. This year's launch will be at John Therry Catholic High School, Rosemeadow, at 10.00 am on 16 February.

The 90 Days
As good as we are at celebrating the 40 days of Lent, we are not so good at the celebration of the 50 days of Easter. Yet the 90 days of Lent and Easter are the most significant period in our liturgy. Possibly in our preaching and our teaching, by continually emphasising the 90 days, we will in time help our people and ourselves to be more aware of how vital is the salvation Jesus won for us and how present the Risen Lord is for us through his Holy Spirit.

Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy
The special section on Lent, paragraphs 124-137, pages 96-103, is recommended reading to prepare for Lent.

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