The Calendar Is Christ

There are two misconceptions about the church calendar. The first is that it is about Jesus. The second is that it is a biography of his life. This little book hopes to change peoples' minds about this.  In one of the earliest recorded whispers of a liturgical year--Hippolytus, 215AD--Easter seems to be an afterthought, and there is no discussion of the Christian year as such. But one clue reveals the secret to the church calendar: in this early reference, the context of the calendar is baptism. The church calendar is an accessory to the greater mystery of our being "in Christ." The sacred year is not about Jesus or the details of his life alone. The church calendar is about us. It is about participation, and our participation in Christ.