“Easter bunny! Easter eggs! What does that have to do with the Resurrection? Shouldn’t it be the Easter hen then?” My friend, Michelle, was venting out. I chuckled but blushed to myself. Just yesterday, I had brought my kids to their very first Easter egg hunt. Our other friend, Nora, saved the Easter bunny from any more ridicule by explaining that it was a sign of fertility and that Easter eggs represented new life. As Nora and Michelle talked… my mind weaved in and out of the conversation, mostly drifting to the idea of Easter. When I was little, it meant a day in the beach with my family. Ah, the beach! As I grew older, the Easter vigil gradually took center stage. Now, it was my turn to create Easter memories for my children. I wondered to myself what those memories would be. Aha! I just remembered talking to my husband, Ian, about this a day or two ago. We wanted to follow what our friends Noel and Dette did with their older kids this Easter weekend. They volunteered some time making sandwiches for the homeless. It was for Ian and me a perfect example of what we want our kids to associate with Easter – a selfless act of giving. For now, though, we were pretty content that our kids were learning to share Easter eggs with each other.
Just then, Nora’s voice brought me back to the conversation. “We celebrate Easter every Sunday.” Hmmm, any given Sunday? John Paul, the Great, referred to this day as the Lord’s day in his apostolic letter Dies Domini. God asks us for Sunday – apparently since the Apostolic times, Sunday was the day to celebrate Christ’s resurrection. It never ceases to amaze me that when God asks, He always ends up giving to us. We receive Easter, the gift of new life through Christ, over and over again every Sunday. All God asks is that we show up at Mass… well, that, and that we try to be truly present. As parents, we can create a recurring Easter memory with our children by bringing them to Mass every Sunday. I decided to rejoin the conversation about Easter eggs and bunnies. Nora, with a straight face, was intently trying to explain that the Easter bunny did not lay Easter eggs but rather carried a basket with Easter eggs. Huh?
What Easter memory would you like to create/ re-create for your children?
What is your usual Sunday like?
What Easter memory would you like to create/ re-create for your children?
What is your usual Sunday like?
