Bo: "chodesh (new moon, month) " ]
"This chodesh (new moon, month) shall be to you the head of months; it shall be for you the first of the months of the year" (Ex.12.2)Why does our month begin with the new moon and not the full moon? The answer the sages teach us is that our walk with HaShem starts in darkness as HaMoshiach taught us:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit…" Matt.5.3When we are reborn in faith in Him, whether this happens as a small child or as an adult, we begin our walk out of darkness to embrace His love and Light. And as we grow, we should be reflecting more of His Light for the world to see. Of course we need to give thanks for the wonders He has done, but we we also need to give thanks when things seems so dark as we hope in His promises. This is why we suspect most of the high holy days begin on or near the fifteenth of the month, when all seems darkest. For example, Pesach (humility/salvation), Shavout (just before, the giving of the law because acquiring works of faith always preceeded this Light shining forth), and Succos (trusting in Him). This link is not as visible in the Catholic Calendar because this Calendar is based on the solar year, yet even these holidays are rooted in the Jewish ones above.
Not only does the motion of the moon after give a great example of giving thanks and praise to HaSHem when all seesm darkest, but it also teaches us that when we seem to have peaked to reflect best His Light, we somehow begin to wane in that reflection, such as exhibiting behaviors that do not exemplify our faith. Therefore we learn that even though we are saved by Him we can still fall short of His glory and go into sin again. Yet, when we do we can still be reconciled to Him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and after this our Light grows again, thus the process continues. This is very much a reminder of that little child who falls many times, but keeps getting up to try and soon enough he begins to walk straight and sure. Hence, this teaches us that salvation isn't an end unto itself but a beginning of a process in which we grow and become everything He created us to be.
