Celebrating Easter for 50 Days!

April 26, 2014 12,208 Views

Forty days is a long time! Although our Lenten program pales in comparison to Jesus’ sojourn in the desert, we recognize the struggles of our sacrifices and resolutions and how difficult they can be to maintain for forty whole days.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Egg Carton Passion Play with Wooden Painted Saints!

Do you remember that the Season of Easter is 50 days long, from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday?

Based on our experience from prior years, I think that there is a natural tendency to pack a whole lot of celebrating, feasting and chocolate-eating into Easter Sunday and maybe even the couple days after…but just as we can struggle to keep our focus in Lent, we can also struggle to keep our celebratory focus during the lengthy season of Easter!

This is the most important season of our entire Liturgical Calendar!

Although all the stores are packed with colorful eggs, little chicks and bunnies, we’re not just celebrating Spring! With First Holy Communions and Confirmations, various Graduations and our own family birthdays, there is plenty to celebrate. These celebrations are all important for our Faith and family life, but we need to find new ways to celebrate Easter…with sustainable celebration for 50 whole days!

Here are two ideas for the 50-Day Celebration of Easter:

Appearing Soon: Jesus!

Imagine what this time was like for the Apostles and Jesus’ Mother Mary! After the devastating events of Good Friday, watching their Savior brutally tortured and killed, even Jesus’ teachings likely had not prepared them for this grief! They likely didn’t fully understand what Jesus had told them and His previous words may have provided little consolation for the loss that they felt.

But Jesus appears to them three days later…and many times after that!

According to Scripture, Jesus appeared 12 times to different groups of people, ranging from just one person to a crowd of hundreds.

Jesus appeared to them wherever they were, as they tried to process all the events that had occurred. Sometimes they wouldn’t recognize Him until He broke bread, repeating the words that He said at the Last Supper.

How excited they must have been to see and touch the Risen Lord!

Through a number of crafts, I have made a couple special Jesus dolls that my kids enjoy playing with.

This is the Jesus I made, transforming a TY Doll with a simple flannel and felt robe, and transplanting some hair for his beard.

This is the painted Jesus I made as part of my set of Wooden Painted Saints.

A bendable, pose-able Jesus could easily be made with the Felt Friends Tutorial over at Equipping Catholic Families.

Don’t have the time to create your own hand-made Jesus?

Traditional statues and pictures of Jesus…are always easy to find!

How about hiding Jesus throughout the house and allowing Him to appear in a different place, each day of Easter!

50 Days of Easter Eggs

There was likely no shortage of Easter Eggs on Easter Sunday, but have you considered prolonging the Easter hunt over the 50 days? I propose that we fill 50 numbered Easter Eggs with Scriptural Quotes, Family Challenges, holy medals, holy cards (although you might have to roll them!), Kelly Saints Stamps (new craft kit!) and perhaps chocolate or other sweet treats. You may want to write the numbers 1-50 on the days of your fridge calendar from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, to make it easier to keep track of the eggs.

Change it up! Use a combination of treats, activities, Spiritual quotes and prizes so that the contents within each day’s egg will be a surprise!

Capture the attention and anticipation of the younger kids: it’s contagious! It’s often our 7 year old who reminds us each day to continue with our various Faith programs and plans throughout the Liturgical Seasons: her attention to these activities help to keep us on track!