Celebrating Jesus Christ rising from the dead

On this day, decorated eggs – known as Easter eggs are gifted to friends and family members.

That he preached and performed miracles during his 33 years on this earth is important, but there is much more to his story than that. While the egg shells represents the sealed Tomb of Christ, cracking the shells symbolises rebirth. His followers, his true believers, mourned while those who persecuted him went about their lives.

Recently I was asked what determines when we celebrate Easter Sunday?

WOW! People really like to celebrate Easter. Do you think I can not call on my father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

On Easter, Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the crux of our faith, the proof of God’s love for mankind and the centre of Christianity. That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

“He has been raised from the dead, just as He said it would happen.”

It also marks the end of a 40-day fasting period for some, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus and for the Orthodox, the celebration of spiritual victory. And whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Learning of the resurrection is something that all Christians will do at one point.

God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that can not be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other (attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr).

They accept Jesus’ death on the cross as a sacrifice that atones for their sins and allows for their forgiveness and redemption. He gave power to what He did by raising from the dead.

However, for many people, Easter is more than the Easter Bunny.

They saw an angel who told them, “Don’t be afraid!” People don’t seem to be as interested in attending on Easter. It’s common for Christians to greet each other by saying “Christ has risen” in the say way they’d say “Merry Christmas”. What you see is what you get.

The cynical may discount the day and its meaning, but hearts and minds of most Christians reach out to embrace the hope that the day holds.

Orthodox Christians commemorated Good Friday, or Holy Friday, by attending evening liturgies with the procession of the epitaph, ending with a candlelit procession through the streets of Sydney.

Worshippers across the region will gather to hear messages of joy and hope.

Pastor Aaron Smith: If I can answer that very simply, I would say, I preach Jesus.

“The flowering of it transforms a barren cross, a reminder of Jesus’ death, into an Easter symbol”, she said. We can not depend on clever theology or doctrinal niceties to answer that question, ‘where is God?’ because we firstly need to ask another question, which God do you mean?

The first Glorious Mystery of the rosary is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The greatest way we can do that is to do what the first disciples did.

Chad: What is your favorite part of this time of year? “It was as if God has said again, like at the beginning of creation: “Let there be light” and there is light”.