Scottish Catholic Observer

We wish you a happy and a Holy Easter, as early as it has come in this Year of Mercy. We hope the miracle of the Resurrection renews and strengthen your Faith and forgiveness. Christ died for our sins and He is risen. Before, however, you dismiss secular society’s trapping of Easter—the modern multiple flavours of hot cross buns, the glut of chocolate eggs—remember that these treats are not so far removed from their origins to have left their Christian heritage behind.

Rolling Easter eggs is symbolic of the stone rolling away from Our Lord’s tomb; hot cross buns are self-explanatory. They help include children in what can be a very difficult religious period for them, the Easter Triduum. Following the period of Lent, we are asked to walk with Christ through His death and resurrection, through lengthy and harrowing scripture. We mourn the Crucifixion and we celebrate the Resurrection.

Remember St Paul said: “If we died with Christ, then we shall live with Him too. We know that Christ has been raised from the dead and will never die again. Death has no power over Him anymore. For by dying, He is dead to sin once and for all, and now the life that He lives is life with God. In the same way, you must see yourselves as being dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 6: 8-11)

We don’t have to overindulge our children in confectionary, however. Charitable giving is part of our Lenten promise and donations to SCIAF’s Wee Box appeal, for example, is something that children can relate to. It will continue to satisfy and keep giving long after the chocolate eggs are eaten and the wrappings disposed of.