Why is Easter so late this year? Valuable vs. trivial information

"The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly." -- Proverbs 15:14

One question that has come up around me several times in recent weeks is "Why is Easter so late this year?"

Thanks the wonder of Google, I came up with the answer quickly and in more depth than I expected. From http://catholicismbeliefs.blogspot.com:

"Easter is a movable holiday so the date in which it is celebrated changes every year. This can be confusing, especially if you don’t know the rules for calculating the date. It was the First Council of Nicaea (325) that agreed Christians should at least have a consistent way to determine the holiday, but that it should not follow the Jewish calender. This was a pretty controversial decision at the time. It took several more centuries to arrive at our current means of calculating the date. Officially, Easter falls on the first Sunday following the the 14th day of the lunar month (which is essentially a full moon) occurring after the spring equinox. It always falls sometime within the range of March 22nd and April 25th.

What’s an equinox - An equinox is a day of the year when day and night are approximately the same length in time. This occurs twice a year on the first day of spring and fall. In the northern hemisphere, the spring equinox technically occurs on either March 20 or 21st, however the Church recognizes the 21st as the official spring equinox.

Why it’s late this year - This year, the full moon in March fell on March 19th, just two days before the spring equinox. The next full moon does not occur until Monday April 18th. The next Sunday following that is on April 24th, otherwise known as Easter 2011."

There you go -- now you know. Not bad information to have, right?

Certainly more important (or at least interesting) than the fact that actor Nicholas Cage recently found an original Superman comic book that he had misplaced for several years. Or that Miley Cyrus once pole-danced on a teen awards show. Or where Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton (Kenya, last October, if you care).

Why are so many Americans so obsessed with celebrity trivia? Are our lives REALLY that boring and shallow that we spend time reading about such meaningless nonsense? The fact that a game called Trivial Pursuit was one of the most popular board games for years answers my question for me. And I'll admit that my own science fiction film obsession means my brain is full of meaningless information that won't help me put food on my family's table or strengthen my relationship with God.

The irony, for me at least, is that both the meaningful and the trivial will be celebrated during the same week at the end of this month. Easter Sunday in April 24, and the royal wedding will take place Friday, April 29. Sadly, I wouldn't want to bet at this point which one will get more attention from the American public.