Posts Tagged ‘Easter’

Deep down things

Thursday, May 16th, 2024
Deep down things

Easter is behind us, and everything is back to normal. The resurrected Jesus is cooking fish for his friends. We are not told how he got the fish or given details of the preparation, but we can imagine silver fillets laid out on red hot stones and the air fragrant with breakfast. Was everything back Read more

Catholic church and mosque join interfaith discussion on fasting

Monday, April 15th, 2024

A few days after Easter marked the end of the Lenten season of fasting, and a few days before Eid al-Fitr marked the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan’s fasting, Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Washington, DC, hosted an interfaith discussion on fasting with neighbouring Masjid Muhammad, the Nation’s Mosque. The evening gathering on Read more

Reflecting on the Cross

Monday, March 25th, 2024
Easter

In Judaism, the great celebration of the year is the historical coming out of Egypt. Jewish friends describe this as a parable. Egypt represents imprisonment in something that is unhealthy, something that restricts the freedom of God’s people. God leads his people out of Egypt. At first the enemy will pursue people. This is represented Read more

What God’s life school is all about

Monday, April 24th, 2023
the gift

Have you noticed how the Sacred Presence brings gifts of understanding when you need them most? It’s the sentence that lifts off the page. It’s a few spoken words that go directly to the heart. We all have these experiences. One gift that has stayed with me, came from an old Jewish rabbi. He wrote: Read more

What Easter bunny has to do with the resurrection of Jesus

Thursday, March 23rd, 2023

The anniversary of Christ’s resurrection was aligned with the northern hemisphere spring equinox, linking springtime and Easter together. The earliest reference to the Easter Bunny dates back to before the 17th century, when the Germanic people of Europe introduced the Osterhase—a rabbit that brought gifts to children at Easter time. Rabbits (originally hares) are long Read more

Pope to patriarch: Catholics ready for common Easter date

Thursday, November 24th, 2022
Common Easter date

A common Easter date between Christians of the East and West is one of the Pope’s particular desires. He explained his views during a meeting with the U.S.-born patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East last week. “Let us have the courage to put an end to this division that at times makes us Read more

Holy water shortage. Easter congregations swell

Thursday, April 21st, 2022
Easter congregations swell

“We’re back,” was the reaction of one parish priest to the swelling congregations at Easter services. The priest with four churches in the parish told CathNews that all the main services at prime times were full. “I always knew people would come back”, he said in an uplifted tone. “I nearly had to erect a Read more

Passover, exile and the vitality of Jewish myths

Monday, April 11th, 2022

To be raised among the ancient biblical myths was to live in a world that melded the material, spiritual, and imaginative. Rich with poetic metaphor, these stories have stimulated the imaginations and moral consciousness of the Jewish people for thousands of years. In traditional Jewish culture, myth once served many functions. The rituals commemorating the Read more

In search of the immortal soul in a modern world

Monday, April 12th, 2021
immortal soul

Immortality has become the great question mark. The answer used to be provided at Easter, with the Christian climax in death by crucifixion, followed by resurrection. The Jesus story wrestled with death not being merely death. Today, however, the sacred meaning of Easter is little more than a dusty relic. For the secular modern age, Read more