Celebrating the Season of Easter

By TOM DENNEHY

The Season of Easter begins on Holy Thursday Night and ends on the Feast of Pentecost. It is the most Holy Season of our Catholic faith as we celebrate many significant events such as Holy Thursday when Jesus instituted The Holy Eucharist, Good Friday when Jesus died on the Cross for all of us, Holy Saturday with the ceremony of light and Easter Sunday when we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Easter continues for another 50 days and concludes on The Feast of Pentecost when The Holy Spirit came on the Apostles and those gathered with Our Lady in the Upper Room in Jerusalem which was the beginning of Our Church.

We begin the Easter Triduum with Holy Thursday night which is the most important night, as on this night Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist, His supreme gift to us and this is how He remains with us always until the end of time.

We read in Luke, Chapter 22. 19.20, Jesus took bread and after giving thanks, He broke it and gave it to them saying, “This is my body which is given up for you. Do this in remembrance of me” and after the supper, He did the same with the cup, saying, “This cup is the new Covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.”

On this holy night, Jesus instituted The Priesthood and on this night all our Eucharistic ministers renew their vows. He also washed the feet of His Disciples to show them the importance of service to others. “Truly I say to you, the servant is not greater than his master nor is the messenger greater than the one who sent him.” John 13.16.

Jesus was later betrayed by Judas and so began His Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane until His arrest. Thus began His torture and condemnation which leads us on to Good Friday when Jesus suffered terrible agony on the Cross and died for all our sins and transgressions.

On Good Friday, the last words of Jesus were, “It is accomplished.” Then He bowed His head and gave a loud cry and breathed His last. Matthew: 27.50. He had accomplished the work that His Father had sent Him to do. This was to restore mankind to the Father and pay the price for our salvation, a free gift to all of us.

On Easter Saturday night, we have the beautiful ceremony of darkness to light. We light our candles from the Pascal Candle, which symbolizes Jesus as the Light that has come into our world to overcome the darkness of Satan and evil. We renew our vows to reject Satan and give our lives to Jesus.

The Old Testament readings are read to remind us of what God has done out of love for us and for His chosen people. We are told how he brought them out of slavery just as He has set us free by the death of His son Jesus on the cross.

Easter Sunday is the greatest day in the Church calendar as Jesus, by His resurrection, has conquered death and restored all of us to eternal life.

We can all look forward to new life with Jesus after our death and what Jesus had said has come true. The Resurrection is a physical demonstration that God has the power to conquer death and bring back to life those who have died. It also shows the depth of God’s love, as it demonstrates that He was willing to sacrifice His only son in order to save us from our sins and bring us into an intimate relationship with Him.

Because of His Resurrection we can sing with great joy, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. We should be people of Hope and Joy knowing that we are following the path Jesus has set for us and we will be with Him in eternal glory in Heaven forever singing and praising Him.

After His resurrection, Jesus spent forty days with the apostles teaching them and strengthening them before He ascended into Heaven. He promised to send them the Holy Spirit which had been promised by The Father. They were praying for ten days in the presence of our Blessed Mother when the Holy Spirit came upon them in tongues of fire.

On this day of Pentecost, everything changed for the Apostles. They were no longer afraid and went out and preached about the death of Jesus and Resurrection and as a result our Church began its mission as Jesus commanded.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”.

Let us make an extra effort to attend the Easter Ceremonies this year and rejoice on Easter morning along with Christians all over the world. Jesus is Risen. Alleluia.