make easter special
"With power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus." —Acts 4:33
The Holy Spirit has told the Church to make the Easter season extra special by celebrating some of God's greatest works during Easter. For example, the first hours of Easter are glorified by the Baptisms, Confirmations, and First Communions of hundreds of thousands of catechumens throughout the world. We kick off the fifty-day Easter season with the Easter octave. We often have additional Confirmations and First Communions throughout Easter. We celebrate May as the month of Mary with rosaries and May crownings. We conclude the Easter season with the Pentecost novena and the earthshaking feast of Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit may also be telling you to join with the Church and make Easter extra special. Maybe you should be like Barnabas (Acts 4:36-37), sell your farm, give the proceeds to the Church, and be a missionary. Maybe you should get a new job or a new way of serving the Lord on the job. This may be the time the Lord is calling you and your spouse to conceive a child. Easter is prime time for deciding to be a priest, a religious, or a single person consecrated to the Lord. What better time to change your lifestyle or suffer persecution! Let's not be rash, but let's not be afraid to make big decisions which proclaim loud and clear that Jesus is risen from the dead.
Prayer: Father, teach me how to witness with power for the risen Jesus (see Acts 4:33).
Promise: "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that all who believe may have eternal life in Him." —Jn 3:14-15
Praise: St. Anselm received the title "Father of Scholasticism" for his attempt to analyze and illuminate the truths of faith through the use of reason. He pleaded for mercy on the king who exiled him.
Reference: (For a related teaching on Life-Decisions, order, view or download our leaflet or order, listen to, or download our CD 44-1 or DVD 44 on our website.)
Rescript: †Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, September 24, 2020
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