Did you believe in the Easter Bunny?
Recess is over.
Having a bad Easter? Don’t think about it - pretend it’s not happening. It could just be another Sunday. On Sunday we always celebrate the Resurrection - that is sorta what Sunday is all about.
I mentioned in another post on Abbey1 that it’s hard for me to make the sudden transition from the sorrow of Good Friday and Holy Saturday to the rejoicing of Easter morning. (I knew all along that Christ was risen last week too.)
I awoke this morning at 3AM, my new wake up time. I immediately wondered if that was the time Christ appeared to his Blessed Mother, and I tried to imagine her reaction. Then I wondered if this was the hour the Magdalen was getting ready to go to the tomb. Finally, I got up and prepared for Mass, which I later attended at 6:30AM.
It was a silent Mass in that there was no singing. I liked that. I realized I was the same old guy praying this morning. I was pretty much the same guy I was on Good Friday. I just didn’t feel any alleluias welling up within me. I pondered, “O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam!” That pretty much gave joy to my heart, fleeting as it was.
I love Easter, but it’s not a ‘holiday’ for me. I don’t decorate, send cards, or do anything special. It’s meaning is pretty much a spiritual thing for me - yet not private. However, the only communal activity I need is to assemble with fellow Christians for liturgy, because without that, the message of the Resurrection doesn’t shine through the gloom of the night. Which is why the Church exults - the Paschal mystery is a communal event and cannot be fully experienced outside community.
Emotions and feelings are not important, it’s faith that matters, along with that certain hope in the Resurrection, and it is only authentically experienced in the community of believers gathered for the celebration of the Eucharist. It is here we recognize him in the breaking of the bread. Personal piety is pushed aside in order to gather together as the Body of Christ to proclaim the Resurrection of Christ. In and through this, all prayer, even private prayer, becomes the prayer of the Church, which in turn nurtures and sustains personal piety.
So if you are having a bad Easter, don’t think about it. It lasts for 8 days anyway - it’s like a week of Sundays. Go to Mass - it will get better.
And yes, I did believe in the Easter Bunny. But now I only believe in Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.
Happy Easter everyone, and thanks for all your greetings and prayers.
