Happy Easter!
All in Good Taste
For those celebrating last weekend, I hope you had a very Happy Easter. Whether your Easter traditions included church services, egg hunts or time with family, I hope it was a time of joy and rest before heading back to work. The weather certainly cooperated.
I have always enjoyed Easter. Both the resurrection of Jesus and the Easter bunny were part of my tradition from childhood, and they still endure to this very day though very few people seem to give me chocolate eggs these days! My three-year old grandnephew, knowing that Easter bunny would be visiting, rose early at 6:20 a.m. eager to begin his egg hunt. He was quite successful. As the saying goes, “the early bird gets the worm” or in his case, the coveted Easter egg.
I write these lines on Sunday afternoon after coming home from a jam-packed Easter Mass; so much so that even the balconies were full. This led many to remark that they had not seen such crowds in years and with so many young people. At the Saturday night Easter Vigil, 16 young people were baptized, received, or confirmed in my parish – all signs of vitality. I am hearing similar stories elsewhere. To borrow from Mark Twain, “reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated”. Could the same be said for faith? Are we experiencing a “resurrection” of sorts in certain circles? While we have all witnessed the massive closure of churches and religious edifices throughout the province, it does appear that there are shoots of new life.
While this is a lifestyles column and not a faith-based one, there is often an undercurrent of faith or religious tradition that runs through it. It is a topic that has always fascinated me from an early age. My Sunday School teacher in a book, dedicates a whole paragraph to me; whom as a preschooler she described me as destined to “take care of my people”. That “prophecy” has not yet come to pass. It is though one dimension, a very important one of my multifaceted life.
I couldn’t write a column without talking about food. Faithful readers know that all my traditions are associated with food. For my Easter meal, I made a delicious, braised lamb shank with all the trimmings. It has become somewhat of a signature dish in my home. What are your Easter traditions? Do you make special foods: hot cross buns, lamb, ham? Perhaps you observe the tradition of eating fish on Good Friday? Do you partake in candlelight vigils or sunrise services or perhaps get a new Easter bonnet? Though my Easter Sunday morning Mass had well over 2,000 people, I looked awfully hard, but I could not see one Easter bonnet. Perhaps that is a tradition that has been relegated to the annals of history. If you had an Easter bonnet, perhaps you even made one, please send me a photo.
Over the next month we celebrate major holy days of other great religious traditions: Eid for Muslims and Passover for Jews. If you are celebrating either of these, I wish you joyous celebrations. May these holy days be filled with love, happiness, and countless blessings.
Next week, I’m taking you on a special antiques trip, stay tuned. Have a great week. Any feedback greatly welcome at charles@atasteofoscarlodge.ca