Alleluia! Christ is risen.
We made it through forty days of Lent—forty days of special emphasis on prayer, fasting, and giving of ourselves, in remembrance of the sacrifice Christ made for us. We made it through a glorious and emotional Holy Week, throughout which we witnessed, again, the love of Christ made known to us at the Last Supper and ultimately on the cross. We witnessed the joy of the resurrection—the resurrection of our Lord, and the resurrection of our communal celebration of the Good News of Easter, as we were once again able to gather for worship and fellowship on this great feast.
There is such a build up to Easter Day. We gather for church. Families come from all over. We dress in our best, we take photos, we go out to brunch or special dinners. (Unless, of course, we just finished four straight days of nonstop church… in that case, we nap!) We celebrate Easter Day with love, joy, and renewed hope that God is making all things new and that God’s perfect love is stronger than all the darkness of this world.
And then what? What does Easter Week look like? Do we remember the resurrection we celebrated on Sunday? Or does Easter get forgotten once the last of the candy and coloured eggs have been consumed?
For Anglicans, Easter is not over. The season of Easter has just begun, and will last a full fifty days, to the day of Pentecost. It is an extended period of rejoicing, in which we feast on stories of resurrection, forgiveness, and love. At worship, our penitential season is now concluded and we refrain from the confession of sin. We read from the Acts of the Apostles, hearing stories of the disciples’ ministry in the time that followed Jesus’ ascension and the coming of the Spirit. In this year’s lectionary cycle, we also read from the Revelation to John, reflecting on the vision of Christ enthroned in glory, and the promise of the new Jerusalem in which death and mourning will be no more. And at every service throughout the season, we light the Paschal Candle—the large white candle that represents the light of God breaking forth from the darkness at the resurrection.
This extended Easter season points to the reality that Easter is upon us all the time. The resurrection is the good news we experience every day. We encounter the truth of the risen Christ in our lives, and we discover the ways in which Christ raises us from the dead and lifts our hearts to new and deeper understandings of the promise declared through Christ for us and for all God’s children.
We are a resurrection people. The occasion of Jesus rising from the dead is an event which lives daily in our hearts. We must carry that truth within us, proclaim it to the world, and invite others to come and experience the love of God that we have come to know in Jesus Christ.
Happy Easter!
Mother Terry+