since you asked…
Dear NCC: A friend says Easter is the most important day of the year for Catholics. I thought it was Christmas. Please explain.
St. Paul wrote: “…if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” (1Cor. 15:14) This earliest written expression of Catholic belief defines the cornerstone of our faith. Were it not for 1. the personal experience of Mary Magdalene, early on the first day of the week, to use the gospel expression; 2. the experience, later, of the first followers of Jesus and 3. Paul’s personal experience of the Risen Lord on the road to Damascus perhaps two decades after the first Easter, we would not be the Christians we are today.
Easter celebrates the victory of Jesus over death. Easter celebrates our belief that life does not end in death. Therefore, Easter is the most solemn and most important feast for Catholic Christians who profess the belief that our God is a god of life, not a god of death.
However, your question raises an important consideration. On the level of faith, Christianity is unique in believing that the Divine God entered into human life in the form of a human being. We call this event the Incarnation. We celebrate the birth of Jesus and call that feast the Nativity, or more popularly, Christmas in English [“Christ’s Mass” from medieval English times].
It would be unproductive, in my opinion, to argue which feast is more important in Christian faith. Tradition that led to the written Scripture and then subsequent spiritual and theological thought consistently stresses the importance of the Resurrection in our salvation history.
But on a popular level, few would not argue that Christmas is more observed with festivities in certain cultures than Easter is. Certainly our American culture is one of those cultures. Therefore, the question of Christmas versus Easter is really a cultural question, not a theological question.
In fact, many other Catholic cultures outside our American Catholic culture celebrate the Incarnation with different emphases. In Mexico, the Posadas, the reenactments of Mary and Joseph, migrants seeking shelter and safety in the days before the birth of Jesus, are more festive than December 25. “Three Kings Day” on January 6 in most Catholic Latin American cultures is more celebratory than December 25. In southern and eastern Catholic European cultures, Christ’s manifestation to the gentiles, the Epiphany, is more celebrated than December 25.
Clearly, we American Catholics must distinguish cultural issues from faith issues. It is very easy for a person to be swept away by the culture one lives in. If a person does not think about what he really believes and what is really important, then such a person’s faith becomes superficial and that faith will not withstand the difficulties that life presents to every human being.
The person of faith does not allow secular culture to form his faith. The person of faith tries to form the culture around him according to the beliefs he lives by.
The Christian experiences what his Savior experienced, misunderstandings and betrayals even of those closest to him. The Christian experiences giving of self and every day the Christian experiences dying in so many ways. But the Christian also experiences little resurrections as a result of those little deaths. The Christian believes, finally, that life overcomes even physical death. This is our Easter faith at work.
For us Catholics there is no better way to experience Easter faith than to join with others in our local faith communities for the liturgical celebrations centered on the mysteries of our suffering, dying and risen Savior. We are able to do this by participating in the Triduum, the three day celebration of: the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening, the Passion on Good Friday and the Great Easter Vigil on Saturday night before Easter morning. We do this not only by being physically present but by paying attention to the words and symbols that fill these days.
Because our American culture does not allow us free time to spend quietly about six hours over three days in a sacred setting, most Catholics will have to find creative ways to feed and to deepen their faith. Obviously, Easter Sunday Mass is the bare minimum.
Perhaps the most spiritually satisfying experience of why Easter is the most important Catholic feast day might be in making an effort to attend the Great Easter Vigil. It takes place after dark. Perhaps sacrificing one’s usual Saturday night activities in order to experience the true meaning of our two thousand year history of celebrating life over death can be a way of appreciating the importance and the wonder of Christ’s resurrection.
If such participation cannot happen, then quietly sitting alone or with other family members absorbing, and perhaps discussing, the readings, the prayers and the symbols of the Easter Vigil ritual might open a person to a deeper appreciation of why Easter is so important to Catholics.
Easter faith defines Catholic Christians. Easter faith cannot be explained by mere words. Easter faith is a way of life.
- Fr. Jonathan A. Woodhall, Ph.D., is a retired priest of the Diocese who is involved in RCIA education and Spanish Ministry at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Raleigh.