So what does Easter mean to you?
Apart from what the religious writings and evidence indicate, what does it actually mean on a personal level for you?
Before I tell you my story, these are some facts about the day.
Easter has always been a somewhat somber commemorative day, also called Pascha, it is one of the more important religious celebrations in the Christian liturgical year.
Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, which according to published researches occurred on the third day after his crucifixion around AD 33.
But throughout the years, Easter has evolved into commercialized holidays, resulting in the inclusion of many non-religious cultural elements such as the Easter bunny, Easter eggs and Easter holiday specials becoming almost more prominent then the actual Christian principle itself.
Easter, according to Catholic writings also refers to the season of the church year called Eastertide or the Easter Season.
Christian Meaning
“Traditionally the Easter Season lasted for the forty days from Easter Day until Ascension Day but now officially lasts for the fifty days until Pentecost. The first week of the Easter Season is known as Easter Week or the Octave of Easter,” one Catholic researcher noted.
Easter according to the researcher is termed a moveable feast because it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar.
As noted on our local calendar Easter falls at some point between late March and late April each year, following the cycle of the moon.
Easter is also linked to the Jewish Passover not only for much of its symbolism but also for its position in the calendar.
According to Jewish writings, the Last Supper shared by Jesus and his disciples before his crucifixion is generally thought of as a Passover meal.
However The Catholic Encyclopedia states: “In fact, the Jewish feast was taken over into the Christian Easter celebration.”
There are varied theories, but to each person, Easter may mean different things, this is what it means to this writer.
Personal Meaning
Stepping away momentarily from objectivity in Editorial writing, for something more personal, I would like to share some stories of Easter.
You see, for the first few years of our lives in Savaii, during Easter service, we found ourselves either, singing, holding candles or holding crosses in Church to mark the day.
Later on, as foreign concepts finally made their way Savaii, we were introduced to the great ‘Easter Egg.’
I will always remember the first Easter egg shared amongst the six of us, it was a chocolate covered marshmallow egg from some random tourist.
It was the sweetest, most satisfying bite each one had ever taken.
With that one chocolate Easter egg, we were done, we were addicted to the culture of eggs during Easter, granted it was far removed from what our parents and the village brought us up with.
The next year, with some probing, the adults arranged for hard boiled eggs, painted with random colours just to cater for the recently-easter egg fanatic children of Safua.
That year, the better part of the village took part in the Easter egg hunt meant for the children, what followed of course was not necessarily laughter and enjoyment, but bickering at who got more eggs, and who tipped who on the whereabouts of the eggs.
It I remember correct, there were some flying hard-boiled eggs after one village lady ran off with half a dozen painted eggs, while the children stood about, near tears at the display of egg robbery.
We soon grew out of the egg phase, what followed were pleasant dinner gatherings with pudding and hot custard in the evenings, those were wonderful days of Easters.
But two years ago Easter day became something quite different.
Our beloved grandmother Faleasiu Liki Tiatia passed away on Easter night.
The day of her passing was symbolic of her belief in God and served all too painful a reminder of her loss.
It was the saddest day of my life and Easter will serve as a day of reminiscent of her life and the great things she has done.
A year after however, the spirit of Easter revisited our family and Moli also known as ‘Code Orange’ was born into our family on Easter day, replacing one life with another.
This week Moli will turn one signifying the birth of great new beginnings for us on Easter day.
To me, Easter is a time of life, loss and renewal.
Easter is perhaps Gods way of reminding us that life is one to be valued, and that the relationships we forge in this lifetime should be maintained until the next.
So what does Easter mean to you?
As you contemplate this, I would like to wish my nephew Moli or Code Orange, a Happy first Birthday.
On hindsight perhaps he should have been named Easter!
Happy Easter Samoa and Happy Birthday Moli!
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