LEAP DAY FEB. 29

February 28 is the last day of the month, at least most of the time. This year February 29 is the last day which we call "Leap Day." Leap Day is placed on our calendars every four years to correct a variation in our earth's annual journey around the sun.

Our earth revolves around the sun every 365 1/4 days, so every four years one extra day is added to correct our calendar. We use the Gregorian calendar adopted by Pope Gregory 13th in 1582. That calendar calls this year 2012 and is used in most countries around the world, although there are other calendars. The Chinese calendar calls this year 4710, and in the Hebrew Calendar it is 5772.

In the 1990s an unsuccessful attempt was made to develop a new international calendar through the United Nations. Some nations use two calendars, the Gregorian and a calendar tied to their ancient culture.

But what happens when a calendar comes to an end? The Mayan calendar was developed during their cultural era (250 - 900 AD), and it ends this year on December 21. The Mayans of southern Mexico and Central America left evidence that when its calendar ended, the world would also end. I guess they felt that time would stop when their calendar stopped.

But time as we know it will end only when God ends it. No calendar is perfect. All are based on the earth's irregular revolution around the sun and require corrections to be accurate.

This is also true of people. Humanity is not perfect and requires correction to exist. No matter how carefully we may plan our lives, we all need correction. No matter how perfectly we may attempt to set up our systems of government or behavior or organize our ideas, we cannot do it perfectly. Only God possesses perfection and can establish perfect laws. People are imperfect and sinful, so we all need corrections in life.

The Good News today is that our salvation does not depend on our making all the necessary corrections, but on God who has already made all the necessary corrections in Jesus Christ. God requires perfection from people, and He provides it for us in His Son Jesus.

God loves His creation, including His people, and He loves us no matter what. He considers us worth dying for, and so has paid the price for our sinfulness through the death and resurrection of His Son. All that's left for us is to trust Jesus - and He even gives us help doing that! Faith in Jesus comes from the Holy Spirit, and faith in Jesus is all the correction it takes.

This is why St. Paul tells us, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Happy Leap Day - tomorrow!