By DONALD DeMARCO
Christmas may be the most popular of all Catholic feast days, but Easter is the most profound. December 25 may be more enjoyable, but Easter is more holy. The Nativity may be more ecumenical, but the Resurrection is more distinctly Christian. Santa Claus is more universal than the Easter Bunny. Hollywood has produced far more motion pictures about Christmas than about Easter. There is an abundance of Christmas carols. Easter is bereft of
carols.
Nonetheless, Easter transcends Christmas in spiritual significance. St. Paul, whose conversion is connected with the Easter event, says: “If Christ had not been raised, our faith would be in vain” (Cor. 14:14). As a result of sacrificing Himself, Jesus Christ rescued humanity from the shackles of sin. His Resurrection is a promise of a new life and teaches all His followers that their faith in Him is alive and powerful.
On Sunday, November 30, 1986, Pope St. John Paul reminded his audience in Australia of the great blessing that all Christians share and how they should carry it with joy: “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”
The word “abandon” is of special significance, for it appears in Dante’s Divine Comedy when he places at
the gate of Hell the words, “Abandon hope ye who enter here” (Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch’intrate). For very good reason, George Weigel’s definitive biography of Pope John Paul II is titled Witness to Hope. We might mention that John Paul has been nicknamed “His Polishness the Hope.”
John Paul, therefore, clearly delineates the line that separates Heaven from Hell. If we are without hope, we are already in Hell. The Resurrection, which Easter celebrates, strengthens our hope and paves our journey to Heaven. More than three decades have passes since the now sainted John Paul II uttered these words, though, like much of what the late Pontiff has stated, they are, like Easter itself, timeless.
At the same time, John Paul’s words have additional meaning in the year 2023 when the burden on Catholic bishops is particularly heavy. In his book, Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way, published the year before he passed away in 2005, he appealed precisely to bishops. Echoing the words of our Lord and Master (“Rise and do not be afraid” Matt. 17:7), “I say to each one of you, dear brothers in the episcopate, ‘Rise and let us be on our way!’ Let us go forth full of trust in Christ. He will accompany is as we journey toward the goal that He alone knows.”
Easter embraces the Cross and Resurrection, death and life. We all know this, though we often try to deny it, dodge it, or allow ourselves to be distracted by it. Yet a person who tries to avoid thinking about death, which inevitably follows our tenure on Earth, cannot be living life realistically or authentically. The Resurrection offers the hope that life will follow death. This hope allows one to accept death and thereby acknowledge the fundamental realities of human existence.
G.K. Chesterton has pointed out that the circle is perfect and infinite in nature. But it is forever fixed precisely as a circle. The cross, he goes on to say, “though it has at its heart a collision and a contradiction, can extend its four arms forever without altering its shape. Because it has a paradox in its center it can grow without changing. The circle returns upon itself and is bound. The cross opens its arms to the four winds; it is a signpost for free travelers.” The cross of Christ represents salvation for everyone. Easter is its point of culmination.
Easter, which conjoins the realism of death with the optimism of hope, provides the Paschal message that is continuous with the Jewish Passover, that death will pass to life.
The issue of life is at the forefront of contemporary culture as pro- and anti-life forces continue their battle over the right to life of unborn human beings. Easter emphasizes the fundamental significance of life. This emphasis can be found in the secular world in the form of Easter eggs, lilies, candies, and pastries. Some children prepare small nests to accommodate their Easter visitor.
The Polish tradition of making pisanki, or decorated eggs, is approximately 1,000 years old. Some of the most artistic examples of these painted eggs are exhibited in museums or held by private collectors. The egg, of course, symbolizes life and attests to the importance of life in its earliest stage. While the egg has received particular importance in the Polish tradition, it does have universal recognition as a symbol of life and fertility, creation and
resurrection.
T.S. Eliot’s phrase, “The fire and the rose are one,” is comparable with the Easter message that “the thorn and the lily are one.” We can be realistic with the Easter message and embrace death, as well as disease, difficulty, discouragement, and all the other firms of human discontent that assail us because, as Christians, we believe in the historical event of Easter which brings the perennially hopeful message that life will conquer death.
Easter, then, is virtually synonymous with joy, life, fertility, and hope. It is the fulfilling moment of Christianity and proclaims that the Incarnation completed in the Cross and Resurrection be communicated through the Church to all its living members.
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(Donald DeMarco, Ph.D., is a senior fellow of Human Life International. He is professor emeritus at St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo, Ontario, and an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College in Cromwell, Conn.)
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