Why does Lent begin at different times each year?
The days of Lent are set by the date for Easter each year. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinoxthe first day of springa date which changes from year to year. This is done to coincide with the Jewish observance of the Passover. What is Passover? Passover is the Jewish holiday that commemorates the Exodus, the liberation of Israelite slaves from Egypt in which the angel of death passed over their homes, marked by the blood of a lamb. Jesus, in celebrating the Passover with his disciples at the Last Supper, gave us the new covenant of his Body and Blood in the Eucharist. First Things First Jesus call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, sack cloths and ashes, fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of heart, interior conversion. Without this, such penances remain sterile and false however, interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures and works
