ALLELUIA!….an exclamation that captures the depths of joy and wonderment and exaltation of this festival and all that it means for us….filled with joy and wonder….
Matt. 28, Mk. 16, Luke 24, John 20-21.
Easter Sunday (day of Resurrection), the principal festival of the Christian Church year, celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the 3rd day after his Crucifixion. The origins of Easter date to the beginnings of Christianity and it is probably the oldest Christian observance after the Sabbath (originally observed on Saturday, later on Sunday). Later the Sabbath subsequently came to be regarded as the weekly celebration of the Resurrection.
Easter Sunday is a day of joy and celebration when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The time of fasting and penance is over! Christians sing Alleluia to glorify God for all marvellous things that happen in their life. They fill their life from the life of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ. May Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, fill us with his life!
For us, what began at Christmas with the Incarnation climaxes with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter.
How do you see yourself living the New Life in Christ?
Will you continue to be downcast and close in on yourself, or will you lift up your head to see the Lord and the victory He has won for you?
Easter Octave & The Feast of Unleavened Bread
The feast of Unleavened Bread celebrates the journey of the children of Israel through the wilderness, when following Passover and the Exodus, they ate unleavened bread for thirty days which then was substituted by the manna (actual food) which Yahweh Himself provided for them for the rest of their journey to the promised land of Israel.
The fact that it was unleavened symbolised that they were not taking with them any of the contaminating influence of Egypt, which represented the culture of the world, only the pure bread of life. Scripturally, bread has always represented the Word of God, the Torah. So eating bread which was not leavened is a type of eating the pure Word of Yahweh God. All erroneous thinking and teaching are of this world which is governed by the ruler of this world who first influenced and deceived man’s thinking in the garden of Eden which is the origin of sin (1 John 5:17).
Just like the Jews, now that we have celebrated Easter, we can walk according to the truth of His Word. Doing it for seven days (seven is the number of spiritual perfection) represents us coming to ultimate perfection and walking completely free of any shortcomings at the end of time.
The seventh day, the Sabbath when the Jews were delivered from their enemies in the Red Sea crossing, represents our final deliverance from the enemy, the devil, at our Baptism. At that time we were transported out of darkness into light.
Each day this week will help make it a holy week. It is not that it will be more holy than last week, or next week. We will make this a holy week by how we spend the next eight days and nights.
Easter Sunday and the following seven days present a special time to bask in the glory of the resurrection.
The Octave of Easter is one of the lesser known liturgical celebrations in the Catholic Church. It includes Easter Sunday and the seven days that follow, culminating in the celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday (also known as the Second Sunday of Easter).
Starting from at least the 3rd or 4th century, Christians began to extend certain feasts beyond the initial day. This meant that the joyous celebrations of Easter Sunday were prolonged and lasted a full eight days.
In fact, Christians treated each day in the octave as if it were Easter Sunday. This tradition has been preserved by the Roman Rite and many of the Eastern Rites, where the liturgical readings and actions of each day mimic what happened on Easter Sunday.
As with the way Christmas is celebrated in the Catholic Church, the Easter season only begins with Easter Sunday. It is a season for feasting, praising God and enjoying the company of family and friends.
Even the weekly Friday abstinence, which many Catholics practice all year long, is suspended on the Friday of Easter Octave. Now is the time to feast!
Easter is the biggest feast day in the liturgical year. Unfortunately, most of the time, Christmas looks to be the biggest feast, especially with all the décor and festivities. Easter seems to grind to a slow halt after the Easter Vigil instead of an exhilarating ascent to Pentecost.
The Church gives us 6 weeks of Lent including Holy Week and 7 weeks of Easter. During the 6 weeks of Lent we are preoccupied with Praying, fasting and almsgiving and penance.
This is rightly so. But what about the 7 weeks of rejoicing in the Risen Lord. It is conspicuously absent. Can we do something about it this year?
- Light tea lights or candles outside of your homes to signal to the world that Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, is Risen and with us. Do this until Divine Mercy Sunday. Have lots of flowers on display.
- Attend online Masses daily.
- Send Easter goodies to those who are homeless, those affected by Covid-19 and all health care workers in the front line.
- Sing Easter songs before your meals as a family as you celebrate Easter Octave
- When “Circuit-Breaker” is over, invite another family or your NCC over to join in your celebration.
- Change the music in your car and your homes to Easter music. You can find Easter playlists on Spotify (you can sign up for a free account) and also on youtube!
- Write short notes of appreciation to each family member every day or do a specific and intentional action of love to each member each day. Jesus publicly declared his love for us on the cross; let’s make sure that love continues to be publicly given to our family too. Our words and actions have a lasting effect, and help make present in a tangible way that love which has saved us.
- Write inspiring Easter messages to others, especially those in our parish who are awaiting their initiation and reception into our Catholic church on our Facebook page.
These are some suggestions. You can add to it with your own sense of creativity.