The Challenge of Easter Joy

We may be well-acquainted with Lenten practices and devotions such as giving something up, abstaining from meat, or praying the Stations of the Cross. It can be more difficult, however, to name ways to observe the Easter season.
 
Yet in the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer at every Mass during the Easter season, we hear:
 
“It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, at all times to acclaim you, O Lord, but in this time above all to laud you yet more gloriously, when Christ our Passover has been sacrificed… Therefore, overcome with paschal joy, every land, every people exults in your praise and even the heavenly Powers, with the angelic hosts, sing together the unending hymn of your glory…”[1]
 
What is “paschal joy” and how do we praise the Lord “more gloriously” in the Easter season?
 
It is unreasonable to expect anyone to will themselves to be happy at any given moment, much less for an entire season. But joy is not the same as happiness, nor is it the absence of sadness. Joy is a fruit of charity. It flows out of love; it results from a participation in goodness. We feel joy in the presence of someone or something we love; we rejoice in the well-being of our loved ones.
 
If our Lenten observance is focused on charity—particularly acts of charity such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—then joy flows naturally from them. The disciplines that turn our gaze outward to God and neighbor, the sacrifices we make, are all a participation in goodness, an act of love. Paschal (Easter) joy, then, can be seen as the fruit of our Lenten journey.
 
Our Lenten efforts are not meant to be temporary measures. They are intended to effect lasting change in us, to conform us more profoundly to our Lord who died but has been raised. What can we do then, so that we don’t simply drop our Lenten observance now that Easter has arrived? How can we instead allow these observances to take root in such a way that they enable us to celebrate the Easter season more fully and joyfully?
 
Consider one or more of the following suggestions to cultivate paschal joy and fill each of the fifty days of the season with festivities and devotions:

• Pray the Regina Caeli and fill your prayers with hearty Alleluias.
• Meditate on the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary.
• Bless the home, family table, or traditional foods with newly blessed holy water.[2]
• Grow or give flowers to adorn a yard or home.
• Pray the Via Lucis, a devotion modeled after the Stations of the Cross, which is a meditation on the various appearances of Jesus from his Resurrection to his Ascension (Mt 28; Mk 16; Lk 24; Jn 20-21).[3]
• Learn about the devotions surrounding Divine Mercy, such as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy or the liturgical celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday on the Sunday following Easter.[4]
• Take up some spiritual reading. The diary of St. Faustina Kowalska offers an opportunity to reflect on Divine Mercy as the source of our redemption and joy.
• Prepare for Pentecost by taking part in the Novena to the Holy Spirit.[5] There isn’t necessarily a formal structure to follow; simply take to heart Jesus’ exhortation to the Apostles to spend these days in prayer in expectation of the descent of the Holy Spirit[6].
• Take a cue from the Paschal Candle, which is lit for all liturgical celebrations and kept near the ambo throughout Easter Time, by lighting a candle (perhaps even your baptismal candle) and reflecting on how you have received the light of Christ.
• Send out Easter cards or write a simple note to the newly baptized members of your parish.
• Research Easter customs from your family’s country (or countries) of origin.
• Visit a cemetery or the burial site of loved ones and offer a prayer of faith looking forward to the resurrection of the dead.
• Keep a journal of the joys and blessings—big and small—that fill these days and respond by giving thanks.

 
Click here for more resources to accompany you this Easter season.

[1] Preface I-V of Easter, Roman Missal, Third Typical Edition.

[2] Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, no. 150, no. 152.

[3] Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, no. 153.

[4] Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, no. 154.

[5] Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, no. 155.

[6] Cf John Paul II, General Audience, Wednesday, 30 May 1979

Author

Fatima Monterrubio Cruess is the Resource Coordinator for the Catholic Apostolate Center.