The breathtaking promise of Easter
Growing up in the south suburbs of Chicago, my family owned a retail flower shop. Easter was one of our busiest holidays of the year, and it consumed plenty of our time as customers bought arrangements and corsages for their loved ones. Flowers for the cemetery were a big part of the business, too.
Even though I attended Catholic schools, I didn’t realize the significance of the services at church during the Easter Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil. We were too busy! It wasn’t until I entered college that I grasped the implication of these days and their meaning. In my life, as I matured, I’ve come to appreciate what Easter is about, and it’s certainly more than just sending someone flowers. (Not that sending flowers is a bad thing).
What has Easter become to Americans? While not suffering from the same level of commercialization as Christmas, to me, Easter has developed into the celebration of spring. It’s all about getting your lawn in order, planting your garden, buying new patio furniture and getting special Easter outfits. The religious significance of our Holy Days is often lacking in today’s advertising. I was pleasantly surprised when I recently overheard a commercial actually say something about “Get a new sweater so you can wear it to church.” How refreshing when it is usually all about the Easter Bunny and the Easter candy. Unfortunately, we don’t often hear, “Why are we really celebrating Easter?”
People could argue what’s more important: Christmas or Easter? You can’t have Easter without Christmas, but at the same time Easter really is the culmination and the fulfillment of God’s promise. It is much more than simply the celebration of a new season. It stems from the tradition Jesus celebrated as he joined his Disciples for the Passover feast. It is the completion of the scriptures as brought forth by the prophets outlining God’s covenant with His people. It is the sacrifice and death necessary for new life.
We often talk about moving beyond the empty tomb. Can you imagine what the Disciples, Mary Magdalene and the other women felt on Easter morning when they came upon an empty tomb? All of their hopes and dreams had vanished, as apparently so had the body of Jesus. We are called to look beyond the empty tomb where there is life. It’s not a dead space. It is a place for life. You can
bring in all these analogies of new life, and rebirth and the daffodils springing up along Wisconsin Avenue. In some other places across Earth it doesn’t happen that way, but here we have a connection between Easter and springtime. As Christians, it is so important to focus on how Jesus and the Resurrection is a part of that.
If the rest of the world wants to celebrate Easter in some other way, we respect that, too. It’s certainly worthy of celebrating Jesus the man, putting into practice some of his teachings and appreciating the example he set. But, it is so much more than that.
At the funeral of a friend’s father I felt a strong reminder of the power of Easter. My friend was talking about her dad, and remarked that he never went to communion because he didn’t feel that he was worthy. I was sitting in the back of the church thinking, “I’m not worthy. None of us are worthy.” At Mass, we say the words “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” These words come from the lips of the centurion in Matthew 8 when he begs Jesus to cure his servant. The centurion’s faith brought life to the servant.
None of us is worthy to receive the Lord in that way. And, yet, that’s what Easter is all about. Despite our unworthiness, God welcomes us. Despite our faults, God continues to love us. At Mass we repeat the word of Jesus. “Take this and receive.” And “do this in memory of me.” That’s really what the message of Easter is about. We believe that God sent his son to be our savior. Our faith brings life to us!
At Marquette University, where I serve as a Jesuit priest, Easter changes the tone on campus. We see the symbols of Easter, whether it be the crucifix outside our Alumni Memorial Union or at the St. Joan of Arc Chapel. They’ve been draped in purple for the 40 days of Lent. Now, we’ve changed the drape to white to signify the Resurrection. Even though it’s celebrated early on the calendar this year, there is a sense this is the final leg, the end of the race, be it for the general student population or, especially the students preparing to graduate. This is the home stretch. There is new life and challenges ahead.
And, we culminate the Easter season on campus by welcoming students into the Catholic Church the Sunday after Easter. Some will be baptized, some will receive their First Communion and others will be Confirmed. By coming out of the tomb on Easter, Jesus affirmed something life-changing: Christ has the power of life over death.
That’s what makes Easter so breathtaking.