The Season of Lent: Fear of the Lord

There are 8 major holidays during the year for Cesidians: Pesach (Passover), Hag-Ha-Matzot (Unleavened Bread), Bikkurim (Firstfruits), Shavout (Pentecost), Rosh Hashanah (Trumpets), Yom Kippur (Atonement), Succoth (Tabernacles), and Chanukkah (Lights).

The first four holidays are spring holidays; the next three are fall holidays; and the last holiday is a winter holiday.

All eight holidays have Judeo-Christian connections; however, Bikkurim or Firstfruits, besides celebrating Christ's Resurrection, also celebrates Buddha's Birth. Moreover, the first day of Chanukkah or the Festival of Lights, besides celebrating Christmas Eve, also celebrates the Eve of Buddha's Enlightenment. The second day of Chanukkah, besides being Christmas Day, is also the Day of Buddha's Enlightenment.

Cesidians don't celebrate Lent at the same time as Christians, because Cesidians follow the Cesidian Calendar, but they do have a period of Lent nonetheless, which is the period of six weeks leading to three major spring holidays: Pesach (Passover), Hag-Ha-Matzot (Unleavened Bread), and Bikkurim (Firstfruits). These correspond to Christ's Last Supper (Maundy Thursday), Christ's Crucifiction (Good Friday), and Christ's Resurrection (Easter Sunday) respectively.

In the Cesidian Calendar, today is Jeuday 5 Columbus 2010, in essence, the first Jeuday of the month of Columbus, and the beginning of Lent. Jeuday, pronounced "Jew-day", comes from the French jeudi + the English day. The French jeudi in turn comes from the Latin Jovis Dies, meaning "Jupiter's Day". Jeuday is also known as "Messiah Day", and it is the Cesidian Sabbath, but the word's pronunciation clearly indicates that Jeuday is also the "Day of the Jews", and thus it functions also as a more universal Sabbath.

This following information was taken from Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) materials, but is also applicable to Cesidians. This specific information was taken from a PowerPoint presentation called "Apostles' Creed".

What are the Gifts of the Holy Spirit? The Gifts of the Holy Spirit, that which will save you on Judgement Day, also known as Yom HaDin for the Jews, and Yawm Ad-Din for Muslims, are seven basic elements:

More information about the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit can be found in this Wikipedia article:

Atheists, sceptics, and predominantly secular-minded people usually possess six of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, but lack one element: Fear of the Lord. It is easier for an elephant to go through a key hole, than for an atheist to remain alive on Judgment Day.

The following information was taken from the Wikipedia's article "Fear of the Lord".

In Proverbs 1:7 and 9:10, the fear of the Lord is called the beginning or foundation of wisdom. In Proverbs 15:33, the fear of the Lord is described as the "discipline" or "instruction" of wisdom. The Catholic Encyclopedia explains that this gift "fills us with a sovereign respect for God, and makes us dread, above all things, to offend Him."

May your Lenten period yield many spiritual gifts, and may you always fear the Lord.