Happy Eastertide!

With the rolling away of the stone from Jesus’ tomb and the angel’s announcement that he has risen just as he said, we entered Eastertide, or the 50 days of the Easter season. Time to put away the “sack cloth and ashes” and fasting of Lent and feast on a season that itself has many celebrations and ends with one big celebration at Pentecost.

The first notable celebration is Divine Mercy Sunday, also known as the Feast of Divine Mercy, which is the Sunday after Easter and concludes the Octave of Easter. Church parishes in the Diocese of  Baton Rouge and the world have gathered throughout Lent to sing or pray the novena for this feast. 

In the 1930s Jesus appeared to Polish nun St. Faustina Kowalska and asked her to institute a Feast of Divine Mercy in order to let people know that his “ocean of mercy” is greater than any sin.

On April 30, 2000, St. Pope John Paul II canonized St.  Faustina and established Divine Mercy Sunday. On that day, St. John Paul II declared, “This is the happiest day of my life.”

There’s also the receiving of many sacraments going on during the Easter season. Children, girls looking like little brides and boys like little grooms, receive first Communion and teenagers are sealed with the Holy Spirit, making this period known as the “season of sacraments.” 

The lives of the saints also continue to be celebrated. Among them is the feast of  St. George on April 23. A martyr, St. George is known by legend as “The Dragon Slayer.”  St. George School in Baton Rouge calls upon St. George as an intercessor academically and spiritually as well as leader for athletic victories. 

The month of May, of course, is dedicated to the Blessed Mother, as a tribute to her purity, faith and love and pointing the way to her son, Jesus.

The 40th day after Easter is the feast of the Ascension commemorating Jesus’ ascension into heaven in the presence of his apostles. Jesus promised his followers that he would soon pour out the Holy Spirit on them.

And what better way to end the Easter season than to throw a birthday party! Pentecost commemorates the appearing of the Holy Spirit to the apostles in the upper room as “tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.”

Pentecost is considered “the birthday of the church” during which the apostles, as we are challenged to do today, boldly went out to proclaim the good news and make disciples of all the nations.