Of all the holy days observed by Christians the world over, Easter remains the most sacred. This is not to diminish the importance of Christmas, which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. It is simply to point out that Easter holds even greater significance as it rejoices His resurrection.
Before Easter comes Lent, a forty-day period of strict fasting to honour the time that The Christ spent in the desert, refusing Satan’s temptations. ‘The Way of The Cross (or ‘The Station of The Cross) is also commemorated during Lent. This 14-step devotion pays tribute to The Christ’s last day on Earth as a mortal being and is observed on Fridays, the day on which He is believed to have died. It is a time for the faithful to reflect on His suffering prior to His resurrection. Shrove Tuesday is also rich in meaning as it signals the last day before Lent begins (on Ash Wednesday). It is a call for contemplation and repentance. Thus, both Fridays and Tuesdays represent Holy Days of Obligation and summon the devoted to fast in exactly the same manner as The Christ during Lent.
Regretfully, both non-Christians and Christians still misunderstand the true meaning and symbolism of Lent. Confusion tends to surround the rituals of fasting. Questions, such as if water or fruit (since it is eaten raw) can be consumed during fasting hours, are all too common. Indeed, as Edwin Wyllde, a committee member of St Mary’s Church in Lahore, told me:
“Christ fasted for forty days and forty nights. Naturally, we, as mere mortals, can in no way imitate Christ Jesus. Instead, we, as Christians, are simply expected to fast for twenty-four hour periods. There are, of course, some special circumstances. If one falls sick, then it’s perfectly acceptable to fast from sunrise to sunset only. Still, without consuming food or water. The purpose is to practice abstinence from each and every form of material luxury and to do so with grace and spiritual awareness. This is what the Lenten season is about.”
‘Easter is the most important event in Christianity. Without Easter there is no Christianity’
The Holy Week (or The Passion Week) begins with Palm Sunday (the Sunday before Easter) which celebrates The Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Then comes Spy Wednesday, signifying the betrayal of The Christ by Judas Iscariot. This is followed by Maundy Thursday (the Last Supper) and the Passion of The Christ on Good Friday (His crucifixion). This brings us to Holy Saturday (or Easter Vigil), representing the short time HE spent in the grave. Finally, this brings us to Easter Sunday: the celebration of The Christ’s resurrection.
Easter is a movable feast and is determined by the sighting of the moon. To simplify date calculations, catholic.com — an online repository of Catholic education and knowledge — provides comprehensive timeframes, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar (the Christian calendar used by the Church). It therefore becomes easier to understand the ebbs and flows of Easter, Palm Sunday and Ash Wednesday. For example, Easter falls on the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon, which is the first full moon on or after March 21 (Spring Equinox). Easter thus always falls between March 22 and April 25.
The entire period of Lent, Holy Week, and Eastertide (a period of fifty days commencing with Easter and concluding with the feast of Pentecost) is a time for solemnity. “Easter is the most important event in Christianity. Without Easter there is no Christianity. On this day, Christians believe that God sacrificed Jesus Christ to absolve the sins of mankind and that whosoever believes and follows Him is rewarded with eternal life. Easter, therefore, changes the dynamics of how God relates to humans and how humans relate to God. It is no longer a question of how many sins have you committed or good deeds you have done. It is about faith in Christ and the Grace which redeems humanity as a free gift,” explains Dr Yaqoob Bangash, Chairperson, Department of Governance and Global Studies at Information Technology University (ITU).
Rev Fr Abid Habib, the first Pakistani priest to serve in the UAE, puts it like this: “When leaders who are (wrongfully) accused return to power, they seek revenge and fight to punish their accusers. Yet Jesus Christ was no ordinary leader. When he appeared before His disciples (after His resurrection on the day we now celebrate as the feast of Ascension), He appeared as a Dove bringing the message of peace. He sent His disciples out in the world to invite those who accused Him to embrace peace and be granted salvation.”
For Christians in Pakistan, like elsewhere in the world, Easter is a time for great jubilation. In villages, candle-lit processions are held in the early hours as the faithful chant, ‘Hallelujah, Yesu Zinda Ho Gaya!’ (Alleluia, the Lord is risen!). Priests and catechists (their helpers), both young and old, happily travel to city outskirts as well as to the most far-flung villages to celebrate Holy Mass (prayer services) for Holy Week and Easter. Even social media warriors objecting to religious feasts are not enough to quell the heartfelt joy of celebrating the true meaning of Easter. This lies in attending church and praying together, despite prevailing challenges faced by the community. We are therefore grateful to the government for providing security to our places of worship on days like today. Peaceful coexistence must triumph.
The writer is an independent journalist and can be contacted at mariansharafjoseph @gmail.com