Easter for Christians is not just one day, but rather a 50-day period. The season of Easter, begins at sunset on the eve of Easter and ends on Pentecost, the day we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church.
Easter is also more than just an extended celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. In the early church, Lent was a season for new converts to learn about the faith and prepare for baptism on Easter Sunday. The initial purpose of the 50-day Easter season was to continue the faith formation of new Christians.
Today, this extended season gives us time to rejoice and experience what it means when we say Christ is risen. It’s the season when we remember our baptisms. As “Easter people,” we also celebrate and ponder the birth of the Church and gifts of the Spirit (Pentecost), and how we are to live as faithful disciples of Christ.
Albert Einstein said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
Easter is the perfect season to reflect on the marvels surrounding us. It may feel odd to have moved into the season of Easter, a season of celebration, in the midst of these difficult times. Perhaps it is an opportunity to really take into consideration that, at the heart of our Christian faith, we are called to live our lives in the belief that death is not the final word. This is why Christians are called “Easter People.
The tomb becomes the womb of new life. We cannot wait for everything to be alright to proclaim our Easter faith of resurrection hope. And so we, like so many Christians under duress since those first disciples, are invited to worship our everlasting God, and do what we can to help people continue to worship wherever they are.