Meaningful Easter Celebration
The liturgical calendar had a new
meaning after I had completed my studies on liturgy during my seminary days.
The two important seasons in the Catholic Church are the advent and lent, which
culminated in two important and meaningful events in the life of Christ and
celebration in lives of the followers of Christ.
While
advent is the time when “waiting” and “expectation” are the key words, when we
wait with hope for “God to come in search of us”. Lent is the time when we are
like pilgrims praying, fasting, giving alms, doing penance and many other
Lenten practices, through which “we go in search of God”. The time spend
meaningfully during lent will be the fruits of Easter.
The celebration of the Pascal Mystery,
the Holy Week is a powerful, relevant and meaningful event in the lives of all
Christians. During my seminary days, I used to be the master of ceremony for
the holy week celebrations. During my first year a lot of time was spent on
preparing the commentary, but, during the next two years the holy week meant
the most important, relevant and participative celebration. During the fourth
year of theology, I was the main celebrant for the Easter Vigil Service.
Looking back at those events meant a preparation and participation in a
meaningful way.
Easter is the most meaningful
celebration in the Catholic Church. The time we spent meaningfully in spiritual
preparation is culminated during the Easter celebration. It is a time for us to
rejoice. We rejoice that the Lord is risen and we share this joy and happiness
with our friends, neighbors and with every one around. The experience of joy is
doubled when we enjoy and share with others.
Easter is a time for us to thank God
for the wonderful gifts given to us. During the entire year we pray to God for
many blessings, guidance, inspiration, support and enlightenment. For all that
God has been to us we pour out our gratitude to God. The spiritual renewal and
transformation is experienced when we complete our the Lenten season and so we
surrender and offer ourselves to God in thanksgiving.
It is also a time for us to deepen our
faith. If we do not believe in the resurrection, then our faith is in vain. It
is a personal experience of deepening one’s faith in God and the eternal plan
that God has for all of us. We are constantly reminded of the fact that our
eternal home is heaven. We are only pilgrims here on earth. We live in faith
that one day we would rise with Christ and be with Him in heaven. This
deepening of faith is a meaningful experience of Christians.
It gives us hope. Any event, incident or experience we
may go through, but ultimately the unshakeable hope that God has a definite
plan for me and this plan God continues to reveal. The most meaningful
experience is giving us hope, that nothing can distract us from this hope.
Easter is the
greatest miracle in the life of Christ. The relevance of Easter is that God
intends to work this miracle in our own life. Every time we reflect on Easter
events, we realize deeper meaning of God’s plan in our life and Christ’s
personal commitment to each one of us and our own meaningful and relevant
participation our the Easter Celebrations.
Fr. Amirtha Raj, OP.
