Please read the passage before reading the comments.
The first day of the new year is often the anniversary of the co-called birth of a people. The Passover, one of two new year’s celebration for the Jewish people was April 12-13 this year. February 17, 20126 is the new year’s date for the people of Vietnam and for the Chinese. The Romans used to celebrate the New Year on March 1, with leap year days added at the end of the previous year (end of February). Those who use the Gregorian Calendar (1582) now celebrate the new year January 1. Even though July 4 does not begin our calendar, we do not forget to celebrate that day as our birth as a nation.
It was the new year and the first celebration of it by the Israelites. This would mark the first day of freedom from the slavery of Egypt. It would be epic in scope.
The Passover sacrifice would be a hurried meal, with each person dressed as ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Death would come to the Egyptian firstborn but would pass over the Israelites.
Christians celebrate the beginning of the religious year in the annual celebration of Easter. It never coincides with the Jewish Passover, but is usually near the Jewish date.
The paschal lamb, when roasted on a spit with no broken bones, resembles a crucified human figure. The death of the paschal lamb saved the lives of the Israelites; the death of the crucified Christ has saved Christians from death.
God’s movement among us humans is always to bring us safely through threat of death to life in abundance. Today may not be an official new year’s day, but it is the first day of the rest of our lives. Let “this day be a memorial feast for you.”