«Now the joy of Easter takes over, and that goes for 50 days!»
Enthusiastically, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, expressed this in an Easter reflection he published April 25, 2019, on his blog, found on the website of the Catholic New York.
In the message, the American prelate reminded: «New life in Christ is our Easter blessing,» stressing that: «Celebration is as important as preparation! The Easter season is as important as Lent!»
The new life of Jesus, risen from the dead, Cardinal Dolan rejoices, resounds in His Church!
«A world fatigued and discouraged by violence, fires, crime, a bitter political climate, a cheapening of life, takes a deep breath, and whispers an act of faith that good, not bad; love, not hate; light, not darkness; hope, not despair; life, not death,» he pointed out, «has the last word.»
«To celebrate that takes fifty days, from Easter to Pentecost! It really takes a lifetime,» an «eternal lifetime,» he said, wishing everyone a blessed Easter.
The following is Cardinal Dolan’s reflection from the Cardinal’s blog:
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A blessed Easter!
We all realize that Lent, the season of penance we just completed, takes forty days. Our kids who give up candy wonder why it takes so long! It’s meant to be lengthy, since penance takes awhile.
Well, now the joy of Easter takes over, and that goes for fifty days!
Celebration is as important as preparation! The Easter season is as important as Lent!
So, the purple is gone, the ashes are gone; the Alleluia is back, as are the songs of rejoicing. The Gloria returns to Mass, and in the Gospel Jesus speaks of life eternal, not dying. We’re doused with Easter baptismal water at Mass.
Sounds good to me!
We rejoice with our new Catholics, close to 2,000 who came into the Church last Saturday night. Alleluia! What hope they give us, enthusiastically and freely entering the Church with all Her challenges and pain.
Our children will receive our Lord in first Holy Communion embraced by beaming families.
Our young people will be anointed with sacred chrism in the sacrament of confirmation, filled with the Holy Spirit unleashed by Jesus.
Couples will come together in marriage.
Ordinations to the priesthood and diaconate will occur at the cathedral.
Our consecrated women religious renew vows on the anniversary of their entrance into religious life.
Our young people graduate filled with gratitude and hope.
The new life of Jesus, risen from the dead, resounds in His Church!
As nature explodes into the new life of spring, the supernatural, the life of grace in our souls, and in our Church, radiates throughout the faithful.
Let the bells ring, the choirs sing, because the sacraments are in abundance.
A world fatigued and discouraged by violence, fires, crime, a bitter political climate, a cheapening of life, takes a deep breath, and whispers an act of faith that good, not bad; love, not hate; light, not darkness; hope, not despair; life, not death, has the last word.
«To celebrate that takes fifty days, from Easter to Pentecost! It really takes a lifetime…come to think about it, an eternal lifetime!
A blessed Easter!
***
