At the beginning of Lent we talked about why we needed an Easter, why we needed God to come save us – to take onboard our sin, pay the ultimate price, and overcome death for us to become adopted children of God.
Easter is a time of glory! Every thing is back – -we’ve got alleluia, flowers, glorias, all the stuff we’ve missed for 40 days, its back with glory! The Church actually becomes a symbol for new life. 50 days of Easter! We Catholic know how to party, we have an octave and then we have a 50 day season of Easter which goes all the way up to Pentecost. This time is a time to learn: what does it mean to be risen? what does it mean to actually live the resurrection? A resurrected life is a life made pure by the blood of Christ, brought to fruition by the resurrection! In other words, the cross and resurrection are not just moments of celebration, but realities we live, in season and out of season. We are not passive observers in the Christian life, instead like Mary, we are called to actually participate in the drama of redemption, by living the resurrection out in our lives – dying to sin, dying to selfishness and living for Jesus at the service of our neighbour.
Now we can rejoice over that!
How are you celebrating Easter? And what is different about Easter this year?
Padre talks about how this is his first Easter in a parish! How he’s living the octave, with his parishioners, celebrating with various families, and how he’ll go home the week after the octave to see his family.
Stina’s Covid Easter
Covid Easter is an Easter I will look back on with fond memories. It was such a hard time for us all. But I remember the stark difference between what we were feeling in our household, and what so many people I was working with was feeling. It just extrapolated the death that is in the world at the moment. People literally canceled Easter in their lives because they couldn’t celebrate with the people they would normally celebrate with. Which to me was absurd!
Initially I thought, we don’t celebrate Easter because of the people around us, we celebrate Easter because God is amazing! Because He is ridiculously merciful, and beyond insane level loves us. We can have eternal life because of Him! That’s what we celebrate!
And that’s partly true. But when I stop and really think, it actually makes sense that we would be so saddened to the point of wanting to cancel celebrations when we don’t have the right people in our lives. That’s what we had before Christ came on this earth. We messed up so bad, and for so long, that we couldn’t help ourselves. We were no longer in union with the One that mattered. The relationship that REALLY mattered. With God himself. We didn’t have that direct contact relationship we yearned for, although not socially distant, we were in a way disconnected from Him.
And so… in a world that has forgotten Christ, it makes sense that we would feel that way once more especially as we lost that human face to face connection as well.
Which I guess goes to show how much higher we have placed connection with one another above connection with God.
So this Easter, the joy should be easier than Lockdown Easter, but the focus shouldn’t be on who we can and can’t party with on earth, it’s about who we get to party with for the remainder of our existence. It’s about who we’re in relationship with now, and forever more. And it’s Him that connects us to the rest of the human race anyway, so we don’t lose our loved ones by placing Him first.
Padre’s Covid Easter
Covid Easter was one I won’t forget. 2020, I was in the seminary as a formator and We had a private easter ceremony in the seminary chapel. The three priest took turns celebrating the various feasts.
- We did all 7 readings and it was aweome! you got the full easter story from Old to new testament!!!
- It was sad not being able to celebrate with family and friends, but also, it was oddly spiritually fruitful. God was using this time to actually make me consider – what was Easter, what was I actually celebrating. I always knew I was celebrating hrists resurrection, but now in the midst of difficulties it was a reality which had to be lived despite the dreaful circumstances we found ourselves in.
- It also helped me to see how God works good out of evil and difficulty
- and that he’s never outdone in genorosity.
- It showed me the importance of an incarnational faith. The online thing was good, it had its place but it was neve enough.
What have you taken away from this lent?
- Padre: Its been an invitation to enter into a relatinship with Jesus and his family.
- Stina: Personal healing – old memories have surfaced, and connections have been made that have been healing for my relationships with others and for the way that I perceive God
No TBG – Easter Prayer