With Easter comes spring and a feeling of wellbeing. Spring brings along with it beautiful weather and clear blue skies, the perfect way to unwind after a long, cold winter.
Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song- Pope John Paul II
Easter, the holiest of the Christian holidays, is a time for many to rejoice and celebrate after much repentance and prayer. Everything centres around this important feast which celebrates the resurrection of Christ.
Easter is really an entire season of the Christian church year, as opposed to a single-day observance, as Papas George Mifsud Montanaro, the first Maltese rector of the Greek Catholic Church in Valletta, aptly points out in an interview on page 12.
Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras – the day before Lent, the 40-day period leading up to Easter Sunday – is the last day before the fasting begins. The week preceding Easter – Holy Week – includes Maundy Thursday, which commemorates Jesus’ last supper with his disciples, Good Friday, which honours the day of his crucifixion, and Holy Saturday, which focuses on the transition between the crucifixion and resurrection.
There is also a commercial side to Easter. We see mounds of sweets and eggs in shops, and chocolate bunnies everywhere. Suffice it to say that around 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies are made each year.
Obviously, Easter eggs are mostly enjoyed by children who marvel at colourful shop windows featuring straw baskets brimming with the gorgeously decorated eggs.
The egg symbolises life – therefore the crucial connection to Easter and bread is a symbol of Christ. Easter heralds the advent of spring – a season of fertility, purity and peace. Other symbols are the cross and the lamb. So perhaps when we’re with our children, we should spend some time talking to them informally about Easter and its true meaning through these symbols.
Hopefully, they won’t turn into stereotypical individuals who celebrate just because the rest of the country is celebrating.
It’s good for the children to know why they truly celebrate Easter. Only in this way can they live out their beliefs in later life and be self-expressive.
Happy Easter to all.
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