Easter at St. Paul's
Easter is the feast of Christ's resurrection! For Christians, it is the principal festival of the entire church year.
Easter Day celebrates faith in Jesus resurrection from the dead on the Sunday - or 3rd day - following his crucifixion. In the Northern Hemisphere, this springtime affirmation of New Life is deeply rooted in the ancient stories of deliverance and in the proclamation that Christ is Risen! Easter Sunday 2024 is March 31st.
Easter is also a full season, not just one day! Easter refers to the entire Great Fifty Days from Easter Eve through the Day of Pentecost. During this season there is no fasting. The word “alleluia” (praise the Lord) is said or sung repeatedly!
~ adapted from An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church
All are welcome to join the community of St. Paul's Natick on this Easter Day - Sunday, March 31st, 2024 - to celebrate the feast of Christ's Resurrection and enter into the Great Fifty Days of the Easter Season!
And all are welcome to continue connect with our St. Paul's Community during the this Easter season of seven Sundays. The lectionary readings during Eastertide focus on Jesus’ appearance to his followers after the Resurrection and are some wonderful stories to explore!
Jesus, as we discover in the gospels, wasn’t in a hurry to ascend. He spent time appearing to his disciples and preparing them for Pentecost. Therefore, we as Christians take this extended time to joyfully celebrate the resurrection.
Resources for the Easter Season:
Three Teaching Points for Easter (an article from Build Faith): “Consider taking time this Easter season to sit with this mystery, to feel the discomfort of uncertainty and to rest in God’s great love which is, in the fullness of time, making all things new.”
Prayers and Blessings for Easter! (from Build Faith website): "Our hope is that they may help you and your community bring all that you are to the God of resurrection and new creation this Easter Day and season."
An Easter Feast of Poems! (from the Salt Project Blog): "The mysteries of Easter overflow its bounds: not a day, but 50 days of celebration; not 50 days, but a lifetime of alleluias. At its best, poetry can help us feel and understand and contemplate these overflowing mysteries, not solving or domesticating them, but letting us experience them more richly, more deeply, more vividly."
Easter with Sacred Ordinary Days: A Spotify playlist for the Easter Season!
Eastertide: A Spotify playlist from Art & Theology
50days.org: A website devoted entirely to celebrating the entire Easter Season!
"The Easter season invites us to remember that Easter changes everything, not only for Jesus but for us and for the whole universe. In this bright, joyous season, we focus on Easter and its aftermath. We say more alleluias. We sing louder. We use lots of golden vestments, and we light the Paschal Candle, towering over all the other candles, to symbolize Christ’s light in the world.... Forward Movement offers this blog as one way to celebrate Easter. Sign up for email notifications of each new post—to read, reflect, and celebrate Easter. Alleluia! Alleluia!"
