Blessings Of Easter

As we celebrate Easter once again, I recall the memories I have from this special day.

After I was old enough to understand the truth about the Easter Bunny, I began to help my grandma dye eggs.  In those days, she used food coloring to make those special eggs.  We carefully cooked the eggs, let them cool and then made them all look beautiful. 

My favorite part was “shining” those eggs with a little crisco shortening! We put them in a closet under the stairs where it was very dark and cool, so my younger brother and sisters would not find them until Easter morning – when I got to help hide the decorated eggs!

I looked forward to that time with my grandma, to doing this important tradition for my siblings and, also, to those great chocolate treats we all received! I remember the days when little live chicks were somehow dyed in bright Easter colors.  We kept them for a while until they just disappeared one day. 

I know my heart would have been broken if I had known what their real fate was when they got bigger. And I remember shopping for that special Easter dress and hat, and sometimes a Spring coat, for Easter Sunday. 

I kept the traditions of dying eggs, and buying chocolate and new clothes for my children as they grew up.  And now I share those traditions with my grandchildren, although they have changed a little.  We buy fancy kits with special cups to dye eggs in, use special crayons and stickers to decorate them, sometimes using sparkles or other things in place of that “crisco” to make them festive. 

They have new clothes, but not quite as formal as I had. I only hope they will have memories of Easter as they grow, like I still have today.  But the one thing that has changed is that now, I fully understand the meaning of Easter.

I look forward to the Triduum and all the special meanings of each day.  Holy Thursday with its reminder of what Jesus is about to do for us and his washing of the Apostles’ feet.  He wanted his Apostles to know that he loves them and to remember this gesture in the days to come that will lead to his hanging on the cross. He offered them his own Body and Blood in the first Eucharist. 

Good Friday with its painful reminder of the great suffering and sacrifice Jesus endured for us because he loves you and me. How can we ever have enough gratitude for this act made to take away our sins? 

Holy Saturday, with its new fire kindled and a new Paschal candle lit.  The Church moves from darkness into the light on this night.  New holy water is blessed, and new members come into the Church. 

Jesus is making all things new for us!  He is about to rise from the dead, and we can be raised up in new and exciting ways with this gift of new life.  And on Easter Sunday, as we celebrate the Resurrection, we should ask ourselves how we can give back this love.

He wants us to do this by experiencing his love through each other. He has called us to be Church so that he can work through us to change the world.  He knows we won’t always get everything right; neither did the Apostles, but he knows if we learn to love one another, we can make a difference.

So, if like me, you enjoy remembering the traditions from the past at Easter and making new memories with your loved ones, let us also remember the great love Jesus showed for us and pass that love onto others through our prayers, actions and words.  Happy Easter!