We are now in the season of Easter or Eastertide!
Jesus’ resurrection is so amazing, so pivotal in the life of the Church that an entire season is devoted to it rather than just a single day. Eastertide begins with the Great Vigil of Easter and concludes 50 days later with Christ's Ascension and the birth of the Church on Pentecost Sunday. We celebrate the 50 days of Easter as one enormous feast or one enormous Sunday. There is absolutely no fasting allowed during this season of rejoicing! For 50 full days, we feast together, sing together and rejoice together in the resurrection of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Easter Week
For Christians around the world, the week after Easter holds special significance. It is a special time to rest and celebrate the resurrection of the Lord. And in many countries around the world, Easter Monday is a holiday. There is no school and everyone takes time to visit with loved ones and to rejoice.
Ways to Celebrate
Read Luke 24:13-35.
Discuss. What must it have been like to have Jesus appear and start walking with you? Why do you think the followers didn’t recognize Jesus? What stories in the bible do you think Jesus pointed out?
Take an Emmaus Walk. On Easter Monday, we remember the Emmaus walk story. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus has died and two grief-stricken followers have left Jerusalem and are walking back to their hometown. A man begins walking with them and asks why they are so sad. The followers explain to the mystery man that a man they had followed and believed to be the Messiah was killed. The mystery man begins to walk the followers through the scriptures, showing them how Jesus’ death had been foretold and what it had accomplished. The followers pause their journey for a meal, they invite the mystery man to join them, the mystery man takes the bread offered to him, offers it up to God, breaks it, blesses it, and suddenly, the followers see clearly who the mystery man really is...it is Jesus! But just as they realize who the mystery man really is, Jesus disappears. The followers run all the way back to Jerusalem, telling everyone that they have seen the Risen Savior!
Play an egg-cracking game. Easter Monday is also the day to play egg-cracking games. The rule of the game is simple. One person holds a hard-boiled egg and taps the hard-boiled egg of another participant with one's own egg intending to break the other's, without breaking one's own. There are variations of the game around the world. In Switzerland, you need only one egg instead of two. Usually, the adults try to break their children's decorated eggs with a twenty-cent coin. If the coin cracks the eggshell and sticks in the egg, the adult claims the egg. On the other hand, the child claims the coin if the adult fails to crack the egg. In many other countries, a nail is used to crack the egg rather than a coin. The nail symbolizes the nails used to crucify Christ.
For the rest of the first week of Easter, really try to rest, feast, and celebrate the resurrection of the Lord!
A blessed Eastertide and a blessed Easter Monday to you!