Hot cross buns are now sold from before Lent until well after Easter. For me, sharing hot cross buns is a way of celebrating Good Friday. What does the cross mean otherwise? Another link between a special custom and a particular time of year is lost. Each month or season of the year becomes like every other and the year loses its rhythm, its sense of ebb and flow.
It seems that much the same phenomenon is happening with the Church year. This is evidenced by Confirmation and first Communion now being held all year round. One parish celebrates confirmation in September simply because the preparation sessions fit in neatly between two sets of school holidays.
The liturgical year has a rhythm that needs to be respected, otherwise it too loses its sense of ebb and flow. Certain parts of the year focus on different aspects of the mystery of Christ. Some are appropriate for celebrating the sacraments of initiation and others are not.
If the link between certain seasons and liturgical rituals is lost, the rhythm of the Church year is flattened out so that there are no longer any special highpoints or light or shade. The whole year has a sense of sameness about it like the secular year because we give way to convenience and a false sense of "being pastoral". - Elizabeth Harrington, Liturgy Lines (click below for full article)
http://www.litcom.net.au/liturgy_lines/displayarticle.php?llid=582