Season of renewal

Today marks the intertwining of the holidays of two major faiths — the Jewish Passover, which starts at sundown tonight, marking the Jews’ exodus from slavery in Egypt, and Good Friday, the start of the Easter weekend, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a Jewish man who became Christianity’s saviour.

These two holidays have much more in common than the coincidental sharing of a date on this year’s calendar. One evolved from the other, for the Passover seder that Jesus was celebrating—his last supper — grew into the Christian rite of the Eucharist.

The beautiful message inherent in this intertwining of two great religions, is about the common threads that link us all in mankind’s shared fate, in the joys and sorrows and daily ex- periences that everyone shares. No one is isolated in this thing we call the human condition; no matter how different our faiths, common ground can be found somewhere, in oral and written history, in heritage, tradition and the ways we seek to make our lives spiritually meaningful.

Easter and Passover both signify new life and new beginnings. It may not look like spring outside quite yet, but there is a secret spring blooming in the human heart this weekend, nourished by ancient traditions and beliefs, that speaks of those age-old feelings of hope and renewal that live in all of us, regardless of faith or creed.

The Herald wishes a happy Passover and a joyous Easter to those celebrating, and a beautiful spring of renewal to all our readers.