Sending out hundreds of Easter cards this year? Attending way too many Easter parties? Doing some last-minute shopping for gifts to place under your Easter tree? Getting tired of all those Easter-themed specials on television? I didn’t think so. How does Easter resist the commercialism that has turned the Christmas season into a consumerist nightmare, and stubbornly maintain its identity as an actual religious holiday? Find out here: "Happy Crossmas!" James Martin, SJHow Does Easter Do It?
Sending out hundreds of Easter cards this year? Attending way too many Easter parties? Doing some last-minute shopping for gifts to place under your Easter tree? Getting tired of all those Easter-themed specials on television? I didn’t think so. How does Easter resist the commercialism that has turned the Christmas season into a consumerist nightmare, and stubbornly maintain its identity as an actual religious holiday? Find out here: "Happy Crossmas!" James Martin, SJ
Show Comments ()
1
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
17 years ago
Father Martin, your article captured so much of what I've been thinking lately. I had a very spiritual Lent and Easter. I always look forward to Christmas with the pretty cards that come in the mail, the decorations, the tree, the food, the family and then of course the religious celebration. It's so easy to get caught up in the secular hoopla when it comes to Christmas. I do think that I'm also lucky that where I live, the old traditions hold strong and that helps me hold onto the perspective, but still, it's easy to slip. However, we tend to not think about Easter and what it all means. While I've always known what Easter is, this is the first year, I really feel like I understood and realized at this is what our faith is all about. I took the first steps back to the Church last year at Easter. While I have a long way to go in my faith and have no doubts that I will continue to learn and grow along the way. I will always remember that I came back because of Easter.
The latest from america
”Unreconciled” looks abuse, disregard and callousness in the eye and witnesses instead to radical kindness.
‘A Man Escaped’ is a story of a man seeking temporal salvation, but Robert Bresson’s film takes on deeper meaning, becoming a parable of the Spirit.
The thought of losing Pope Francis one day is a hard one for me to grapple with; I know my reasons why. What surprised me was how many of my non-Catholic friends, even those whose feelings toward the church are decisively negative, also expressed their care and concern.
How is Catholic Charities navigating political opposition to their work with migrants?