THE EMOTIONS OF HOLY WEEK
Holy Week is always a movable feast. And this year, the meal is earlier than usual. Easter Sunday, in fact, is still one of the few holidays where people must actually consult the stars before making plans. Would that people did as much before planning other aspects of their lives.
Ref. https://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C1249%2C...19991%2C00.html
I attended church this Sunday which was Palm Sunday, and during Mass the congregation participated in the reading of the events from when Jesus was betrayed to him being handed over for crucifixion. It was very moving reading about this and imagining what He must have suffered for our sins. I probably won't be able to attend on Good Friday but Easter is always a joyous time in church as everyone is reminded of the fact that we are forgiven our since through His sacrifice.
The week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday for us, is a time of reflection, and my wife tends to enjoy Easter much more than Christmas because of the events that it signifies. Plus, as the article states, Easter is a reminder of Spring and warmer weather, even though here in Minnesota it doesn't feel like that yet, what with the recent snow storm this last weekend.
I think this is as good a topic as any to discuss Easter. Easter is the culmination of "Holy Week" after all.
In this post, Konquerorz makes some very interesting points about the history of Easter.
A lot of the points are quite valid, about how there are such close relationships to the Easter story and the stories and traditions of other, "pagan", religions from before the time of Christ.
However, from my point of view, there is a very simple explanation for these correlations and similarities.
I believe that Adam and Eve were real people. I believe that God taught eternal truths to them, including extensive prophecy about future world events. Adam taught these things to his descendants, some of whom accepted those truths, and some of whom rebelled against them.
Over time, those truths, including the prophecies, became corrupt. As new religions developed around the corrupted truths, the new traditions included aspects of the truths God had revealed to Adam and Noah. They were just no longer pure.
So, as true prophecies came about, such as Jesus' resurrection, the incidents appeared to reflect some of the beliefs and traditions of other religions.
I know that Jesus died and was resurrected on the third day. It has special meaning for me and my family. It has very special meaning to my religion.
Today (Good Friday) is a very sad day of the Holy Week as Christians remember the pain and suffering our Lord Jesus Christ went through leading to his crucifixion on the cross. However, as Nighthawk mentioned, it will all culiminate into a joyous celebration of our Lord's resurrection from the grave, and hope that we can be saved to live with him for all eternity. God be with you through this holy weekend.
To all who celebrate Easter, I wish you all a happy, peaceful Easter time, with God's blessings upon you.
To all who don't celebrate Easter, I still wish you all a safe, peaceful week!
Today, as Malexander earlier said, with being Good Friday, it is a sad time for Christians to reflect on the death of Jesus on the cross, but with Easter Monday comes a joyous time, as we celebrate Jesus' resurrection.
Wishing all a HOPPY Easter!
Just a quick response to nighthawks earlier post. When Constantine made the celebration for christs death and resurrection on the spring solstice day (since he was himself a pagan as well), it was hotly disputed, but the strong arm of the roman emperor silenced all the anger about sharing a day with the pagans.