This Groundhog Day Rooted in Christianity?

/ Pastor's Blog / By

Good morning,

Tomorrow is Groundhog Day, which is a BIG deal in Pennsylvania in general and in our area in particular (along with Punxsutawney, of course).  Inevitably whenever February 2nd is upon us we see different news stories published about the origins of Groundhog Day and why people believe that an overgrown rodent has the ability to predict the weather.  It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes those stories will mention that the holiday is rooted in Christianity.

Is that true?  The answer is “sort of.”

Typical retelling of the origins of Groundhog Day will attributed to the Pennsylvania Dutch, who brought the tradition over with them from Germany and some other German-speaking areas of Europe.  As you all know, the tradition is that if the groundhog sees his shadow on February 2nd, then it means there will be six more weeks of winter.  If February 2nd is cloudy, it heralds an early spring.

So what is so special about February 2nd?  Why isn’t Groundhog Day on February 5th or January 30th?  Well, here is where we have a connection to the early Church.  February 2nd is 40 days after Christmas.  In Luke 2:22-24 we read this:

When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord” and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

The portion of the Law that Luke is referring to is found in Leviticus 12.  If a woman gave birth to a boy, she was to have a 40-day period of purification, after which she was to present her son before the temple (or tabernacle in the O.T.) and offer a sacrifice to the Lord.  If she gave birth to a daughter the purification period was 80 days.  Mary and Joseph kept the Law, so they presented Jesus at the temple and gave the sacrifice required after 40 days.

As the early church began to celebrate Jesus’ birth on December 25, they also began to commemorate His dedication on February 2nd with a holiday that became known as Candlemas.  During Candlemas candles are blessed with Holy Water by priests and there is a processional of candles performed before the evening Mass.  As you can probably guess, Candlemas was and still is primarily celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Church.  Our Catholic friends tend to place more emphasis on Mary than they do on Jesus in their traditions for Candlemas.

Over time some folklore traditions developed around Candlemas.  The traditional dish of Candlemas is crepes, and when people make them they hold a coin in their hand to ensure prosperity for the coming year.  Candlemas is also the day that Christmas decorations traditionally come down.  The most famous Candlemas tradition, however, is (you guessed it) weather related.  According to tradition, good weather on Candlemas means a long winter.  Cloudy or rainy weather means an early spring.

The first settlers of Pennsylvania were Protestants who were abandoning many if not most of the practices of the Catholic Church, so Candlemas ceased to be observed by the churches and surrounding communities.  The belief in February 2nd being a day for weather prediction, however, stuck around.  The German tradition actually involves a badger, but since the badger isn’t native to our area, our Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors adopted the groundhog in its place.

Today Groundhog Day is something of a national holiday that really doesn’t have anything to do with Christianity.  Although there is no harm in joining in the fun, Christians should avoid believing in any of the superstitions surrounding it.  Personally, I’m always rooting for an early spring by February 2nd.  I’ll place my trust in God, however, and not a groundhog.***

Here’s what’s happening:

  1.  If you have pictures from the banquet that you would be willing to share, please send them to me!
  2. The youth are heading to the Great American Outdoor Show on Saturday. Meet at the church at 8 am.    The church is covering a portion of the ticket, so $15 will get you into the show and give you money for some food if you would like to purchase some.  Signed permission slip is needed.
  3. Junior Youth meet on Sunday 2/4. Senior High meet the following Sunday, 2/11
  4. Vison docs and arrows are in the church lobby if you didn’t get them and would like them.
  5. Don’t forget that we are hoping to hire a youth leader/pastor this year. This will essentially be a quarter-time position, with most of the hours on Sunday.  If you know of someone who might be interested you can send them to the church website or here.

All of us have dealt with situations in life where we have persistently prayed for someone only to see them have to deal with more hurt, heartache, pain and suffering.  It is in those moments that we can be tempted to give up praying.  On Sunday we’ll look at Luke 18 and the Parable of the Persistent Widow.  If someone you know is struggling with this reality, this would be a great week to ask them to join you at the Bridge.

 

Scott

 

***I still hate groundhogs.