EASTER AT HOME

Last week we asked how you are planning to bring the holiest weekend of the year alive without the benefit of your physical presence at Church. Here are some of the responses we received:

“For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Saint Paul reminds me of what the essence of Easter and living is all about. Christ is the reason we exist and why we live and celebrate Easter.

Covid-19 has the world living in fear while we who are in Christ live by faith. While the world is in chaos, we have confidence in the resurrection of Christ. And while the world is in panic, we have peace in Christ.

The Easter season reminds me to rejoice in the resurrection of Christ. Jesus said “I am the resurrection and life.” We can be thankful that we are in transition from this life to a life of resurrection. Covid-19 has no power over those who live and are in Christ. That’s how my family and I will celebrate Easter, by rejoicing in the Lord always!

-Angelo Rea

I am so thankful for today’s technology. When I was a child, we did not even have a phone. Today, I can email my children and grandchildren and see photos of the great-grandchildren. We can FaceTime each other so we can interact and enjoy time together. I will do that at Easter since I live alone and now cannot visit in-person or receive visitors.

I will watch all the church services on the computer as our diocese has the Holy Days live streaming the Masses, Chaplet of Divine Mercy, etc.

I will make myself nice Easter Sunday meals, look at old photos and remember when our family celebrated with us.

Christ is present in our homes as well as in our churches. I thank God for His many blessings.

-Naden Hewko

I will watch and reflect on the daily Masses each day. And I will pray and meditate on the meaning of what Jesus speaks to my heart.

-Susan Rawson

All six of my decades we’ve had Easter plans,

Bunnies and eggs with chocolates and fun.

There’s mass to attend with new clothes to wear,

Everyone smiles as we greet everyone there.

When out of somewhere East came a virus so bad.

It circled the world and made everyone sad.

Spirits were crushed, struggling and more,

In confusion and not knowing what’s in store.

Oh how this Easter will change from years before,

As the news of Covid came to our doors.

They say stay at home, no masses, do your part.

Stay at home, keep apart and no parties to start.

But thank God for the technology we have,

We’ve taken care of Easter observance and more.

Churches celebrate global masses everyday,

May not be the best but good in its own way.

Easter services and activities abound,

Just turn on YouTube and for sure one will be found.

On Easter day we’ll start noon with a mass,

Tune in on FaceTime or Zoom, it’ll look like a class.

In screens family and friends will feast and will be,

It really doesn’t matter that much to me.

Because I believe that Jesus celebrations are best in the heart.

COVID during Easter may have brought true light,

To the path our world was going that seems not right.

And because tech has brought Jesus to our homes all the more,

We’ll be closer to him knowing it’s our heart that’s the core.

-Anna Maria DeGuid

This is indeed the holiest week of the year. It is the first time ever that I am unable to be physically present at church and it makes me sad. Sad that I cannot partake in the beautiful liturgies during the Triduum leading up to Easter Sunday. Even without being present at these events, I know that God takes care of us. We need to place our trust in God. We need to be His light in the midst of this darkness all around us. We have to experience holy week in a different way this year. This can be done through our generosity, our service and our support of one another. We journey together in our faith and in truth that God continues to save us. Although we are separated we are to have hope together in a way that we are unaccustomed to. This year I do not have the responsibility of providing the music for my parish for the various liturgies, so it will certainly be a quiet celebration but it is still a celebration of the joy in Christ’s resurrection. Although I will not be with my parish family, I am so grateful that I am able to be with and celebrate Easter with my whole immediate family. This pandemic has brought fear and the need to isolate, but it has also brought us an opportunity to really contemplate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus in the silence of our hearts and in our homes.

-Laura Vitella

While Easter 2020 will definitely be a different experience, I plan to make it no less than years prior in terms of reverence and reflection. Our meals will be the same, our faith will remain strong, and our Lord will still pass on Friday and rise on Sunday.

I intend to hold a small, homemade version of the Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil masses. There is a wealth of prayers, intentions and resources available through the Internet that will make it easy to do so.

I believe this Easter will be a blessing amid all the chaos that so many families are experiencing. My small corner of the world has been blessed with minimal repercussions thus far. My heart has been breaking for those who have been greatly affected by the pandemic. I hope the prayers my family will lift up during our Easter weekend at home will promptly reach the ears of our heavenly Father and that he will bestow a swift and compassionate remedy to all who suffer.

I plan to treat Easter as the Lord has always intended: prayer-filled, reverent and peaceful. With my small, immediate family, we will raise our voices and hearts to the One who heals all.

-Arista Atsira

From all of us at Novalis and Living with Christ, we wish you a blessed Easter in whichever way you choose to commemorate this holy day!