The spirit of Easter that should not pass you by

The highly anticipated Easter season is finally upon us. And while some families look forward to telling tales of the Easter Bunny or painting Easter eggs, this religious holiday carries some long-standing traditions specific to our uniquely diverse and rich culture. While you sit in the comfort of your home and have not gone to church, here is what you should not miss out on.

Archbishop’s message
The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Most Rev Stanley Ntagali, has urged Ugandans not to use deprivation as an excuse to steal, but reflect on their personal lives this Easter to overcome greed, lust and glorification of material wealth.

Archbishop Ntagali, who was delivering his Easter message at Church of Uganda provincial headquarters in Namirembe, a Kampala suburb, said, “Only a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ can put greed to death in our country and see generosity rise in its place.

If employees stopped embezzling money and ghost teachers stopped being paid and the practice of giving and receiving bribes stopped, I imagine that we could not only replace the aid that has been cut by some Western countries, but even rise above and go beyond it.”

The Archbishop also urged Christians to learn from Jesus’ resurrection the art of overcoming poverty, jealousy, revenge, sexual abuse, lust and addictions such as pornography, alcoholism and materialism.

“We are not powerless to address these challenges in our lives. Jesus has conquered death, he is victorious and in Christ, we too can be conquerors and victors,” the cleric said adding: “We must assert our sovereignty and do what it takes to protect our children from being recruited into an immoral life and exploited by others.”

The Easter rituals
Way of the cross
On Good Friday mood changes as Christians world over meditate on the 14 traditional stations of the cross. During this time is the journey undertaken by Jesus, starting at the place where Pilate sentenced him to death. It ends on Mount Golgotha (Calvary). Jesus walks this distance carrying the cross upon which he will be crucified.

Easter vigil
Many Christian denominations begin observing Easter on Saturday night with an Easter vigil. Easter vigil precedes Easter. This day, Christians commemorate the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ and prepare for His resurrection.

The vigil typically begins in darkness and involves lighting a large Paschal candle. The service includes readings from the Old Testament and New Testament. When the story of the resurrection is read, lights are turned on and church bells are rung. The Easter vigil concludes with Holy Communion, often referred to as the Eucharist.

Easter family traditions
Treasure hunt
You can have plenty of fun in your own backyard. Or find an Easter egg hunt near you. Many cities and recreation centres have introduced Easter egg hunts, and other activities for the children to enjoy.
“While the egg hunt is probably an Easter tradition you enjoyed as a child too, spread the fun out for more than one day for your children. Hide Easter eggs around the house, in your yard. Let them hunt plastic eggs several days after Easter is over.

The thrill of the hunt does not fade for children and they shall always look forward to the next Easter,” Joseph Musenero, an events organiser shares.

Watch Easter movies
“I love saving for holidays. Easter is one of the long and significant holidays on my family calendar,” says Dr Bonaventure Ahaisibwe, a general practitioner with UNHCR.

At his house, Easter traditions centre on family, and Easter movies for children and families give him a good reason to snuggle up on the couch together. Older children may be ready for Easter and Passover movies with a more adult tone.

“Instead of just popping in a DVD, make your Easter movie night an event. I make my house a cinema and play Easter-related movies. It saves me having to buy tickets and planning for a costly meal at the food court near Cineplex after the movie because all is catered for at home,” says Ahaisibwe. Such movies include Hop and Easter Promise.

Host an Easter lunch
Anne Karemera, a stay home mother says whether you are expecting relatives from out of town or it is just you, your spouse and the children, lunch is one of those Easter traditions that encourages the family to spend time around the table.

“An Easter lunch is a good excuse to save on the Easter restaurant meals. Planning your Easter lunch menu is easy,” says Karemera adding: “Know what every member eats and cook bit of everything. This will please the whole family.”

Dyeing or painting Easter eggs
“My children and I buy plastic eggs and dye them,” says Prossy Kyomugisha, a banker with Standard Chartered Bank. She says, much as most people think it is a western cultural tendency, dyeing eggs is a cherished memory of Easter for children.

“I consider this tradition as one that captures Easter memories for the whole family.” Children love fun activities.
Never bother them with preacher man messages because they will get bored and you shall not attain your goal of teaching them about Easter and its significance.

-Additional information by Stephen D. Kafeero.

Things you never knew about Easter

Why is it called Easter?
The word Easter has its roots in “Eastre,” which was the name of the Teutonic goddess of spring. Eastre was originally a pagan festival that celebrated the beginning of Spring. The festival focused on fertility, and utilised the egg and the rabbit as symbols of the celebration.

Early Christians adopted the pagan festival of Eastre as a time to celebrate the risen Christ, rather than the goddess of Spring. Today, the vernal equinox still determines the date for Easter. In most Western countries, Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday following the vernal equinox, which is typically between March 22 and April 25.

Deciding on a date
The dates when Easter is celebrated varies from year to year. Why is this different to another Christian holiday, such as Christmas day, which is always on December 25?

The problem is that the Gospels are pretty vague on the date of Easter. Matthew, Mark and Luke indicate one date, whereas John indicates a different date. Another factor is that Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. To early Christians, his return for second time was imminent; therefore they didn’t worry too much about dates.

As the centuries passed, this lack of clarity around the date , by the late Third Century, if you travelled around Europe, you could celebrate Easter several times in the space of a few weeks.

In Alexandria, Easter was always on April 25; in Rome it was April 18 and in parts of Western Europe, it was celebrated on March 21. In fact, in parts of Celtic Britain, the crucifixion was commemorated on a Thursday instead of a Friday.

It was only after several attempts to set a standard date for Easter, that the formula of the Alexandrian Church was accepted as the correct way to determine the date. With this method, and a passing nod to the method of calculating Passover, Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon whose 14th day is on or after the Vernal Equinox.

Origin of eggs
The tradition of giving eggs at Easter time has been traced back to Persians, Egyptians, Gauls, Greeks and Romans, to whom the egg was a symbol of life.

In keeping with almost all ancient beliefs, the Persians accepted that the world was hatched from an egg on the first day of spring. Their New Year’s festival was celebrated at a time corresponding to Easter.

Upon this joyous occasion they had a unique custom - they exchanged dyed eggs as good luck charms. The practice spread throughout the world. Today, children look for coloured eggs in the Easter basket.

The Christian tradition of egg is said to represent rebirth and resurrection - new life being born from the egg. It’s also been said that egg represent the shape of the stone that rolled away on Easter Sunday from the tomb that held Jesus’ body.

South Africa
In 1995, Easter Monday was renamed Family Day.

EASTER SCRIPTURES

Do you just want to meditate on the significance of Christ’s resurrection? Reverend Fr John Sebayiga of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Kamwokya gives us some Bible verses that centre on the theme of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, and what these events mean to his followers.
Matthew 28:1-10: After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.

His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
John 11:25-26 : Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

Mark 16:1-8: When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ “

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.