Thank you to the many people who participated in the Easter Liturgies across our parishes.  There were over 2,000 people in our three Churches over the days of the Easter Triduum.  We were blessed to have so many people involved in the ceremonies and I would like to thank all of our leaders, readers, singers, musicians, liturgy team members, servers and many others who ensured that our ceremonies were celebrated with beauty and a spirit of prayer.

The Easter season now begins!  We are so used to celebrating Easter as the end of the forty day Lenten season that we sometimes forget that Easter is not the end but the beginning!  Easter is the beginning of a fifty day season that continues through until Pentecost.  While Lent invites us to prayer, fasting and almsgiving we often don’t know what to do with the Easter season.  Yet, the Easter season of joy and resurrection is, in fact, longer than the Lenten season.  I have been thinking about this over the last week and have compiled a list of ten ways that we can continue to celebrate the Easter season.

1. Celebrate the Sundays of the Easter season with a special meal.  While Lent is a season of fasting, Easter, by contrast, is a time to feast.  Perhaps we could plan out a special meal each Sunday.  Maybe we could invite a family member or a friend for a Sunday meal during this time.  We could say grace before meals and finish with ‘Alleluia, Alleluia’ for the next seven weeks. Here are some suggested prayers.
2. Listen to Easter Music.  There are so many beautiful Easter Hymns and Songs that can inspire us.  We are all probably familiar with Handel’s Messiah.  Why not play the great uplifting Hallelujah Chorus once a week between Easter and Pentecost.  There are many other Easter hymns and songs too.  Let us know one of your favourite pieces of music by replying in Comments below.
3. Read a Gospel from beginning to end.  The Gospels are all post-resurrection documents.  Each of the evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote their gospels in light of the resurrection of Jesus.  Have you ever read one of the Gospels from beginning to end?  The Easter season is the perfect time to take one gospel and read it through.  It could be done in an hour or more.  Otherwise take a few chapters a day over a week or two.
4. Read the Acts of the Apostles.  During the Easter season at Sunday Mass instead of reading the Old Testament for the first reading we read from the Acts of the Apostles.  The Acts of the Apostles gives account of the emerging Church in the post-resurrection period.  The Easter season would be a great time to sit and read the Acts of the Apostles.  Maybe you could ask some family or friends to read it too and create a book club for the Easter season where everyone can read and discuss the Act of the Apostles.
5. Revisit your baptism or confirmation name.  At Easter we renew our baptismal promises.  The Easter season could be a good time to revisit our baptismal or confirmation names.  Is there something about the saint you chose that you are yet to uncover?  Parents could talk to their children about how they named them and why they decided to baptise them.  See how others are re-looking at the saints today.
6. Give to Caritas Australia so that others may share in the resurrection life.  During Lent we support Project Compassion and the work of Caritas Australia as they strive to build a better world for many disadvantaged and prejudiced people across the globe.  But that doesn’t have to be a penitential activity.  The Easter season is also a time to be generous and share in the resurrected life that Christ brings to the world.
7. STOP. PRAY. EAT.  On the Third Sunday of Easter we listen to the gospel of the road to Emmaus.  This is the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus who meet a stranger on the way, who explains the Scriptures to them and then joins them for the evening meal.  Luke reveals to us that the disciples recognise that Jesus is among them when they have the scriptures explained to them and join in the ‘breaking of the bread’.  We too could use the Easter season to slow down, pray with the scriptures and share a meal together.  Perhaps the Easter season is a time to commit to joining the community of faith each Sunday for the liturgy of the Word and the Eucharist.
8. The Easter Season celebrates the resurrection of Jesus who brings new life not only to human beings but to the whole of creation.  Why not use the Easter Season to explore Laudato Si, Pope Francis’ exhortation on the environment.  The Laudato Si action platform has a wealth of information and practical ways in which Christians can join together to respond to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.
9. Take an Easter walk.  In the gospel of Easter we often hear of the disciples walking.  Why not take our own Easter walk.  Plan a weekend walk where you can simply take in the signs of new life around you.  Notice also the signs of degradation that also mark our neighbourhoods.  How can we bring the light of the resurrection to these areas.
10. Prepare for Pentecost.  While the shops and marketers will be preparing for the next commercial feast, no one will be preparing us for Pentecost.  At the end of the Easter Season we will celebrate the coming of the Spirit.  That is the culmination of the Easter Season (in fact it is the culmination of the Lenten and Easter Season).  Plan to celebrate Pentecost.  Across our parishes we will be baptising and confirming a group of adults who have been preparing to enter into the Church this year.  Come and celebrate with us.  Plan your own Pentecost celebration with family and friends.  Pentecost this year is on Sunday, 19 May.

There is so much richness in the Easter Season – why not take on one thing during these next seven weeks.

By Fr Brendan Reed

Published: 5 April 2024