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: "The wind blows where it will. You hear the sound it makes but you do not know where it comes from, or where it goes. So it is with everyone begotten of the Spirit." —Jn 3:8
Praise: Jane reached out in love to an unwed mother and was blessed to sponsor her into the Church at Easter.
Reference: (Prepare for an earthshaking Pentecost by praying the Pentecost Novena. For supporting teaching, order our leaflet Pentecost Novena or on audio AV 103-1 or video V-103.)
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, October 9, 2003
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, October 14, 2003