The very first year my wife and I were married, we were living far away from family and spent Easter with just the two us.  Shortly after sunrise, she awoke me with a present, a copy of Matt Maher’s Easter album entitled, Overflow.

I wish I could adequately describe to you the warmth I experienced turning on that first song, Resurrection Day.  All the fasting and sacrifice, the sorrow and shame, the heart-wrenching genuine penitence that had marked my Lenten season burst out of me, washed away in my joyful tears.

 It’s the weight of your glory
Brings the proud to their knees
And the light of revelation
Lets the blind man see
It’s the power of the cross
Breaks away death’s embrace
And we celebrate our freedom
Dancing on an empty grave

 
A tradition was born that morning.  Every year on Easter, the whole family awakes with the sun or shortly after, and we all turn on the Resurrection Day song.  We dance with our children, we praise God, and we let the new joyful season of Easter rush into us.  The children may not fully grasp the changing season as my wife and I do, but they know that this is a special family moment.  As they grow, I hope they treasure the ritual, and begin to understand why this change in season is also a change inside us.

In our home, we work very hard, not only to repent during the season of Lent, but also to celebrate throughout the whooole season of Easter.  This is not always easy.  Now that we have two little children in our home, we have to work so much harder to overcome the busyness of life.  I have, however, observed that my outpouring of Easter joy is in direct correlation to the commitment which I maintained to Lenten observance.  I very much reap what I sow.

Feasting for fifty days, though joyful, is also great challenge in itself.  Our family makes special foods.  We sing Easter songs.  We greet each other by proclaiming, “The Lord is risen, Alleluia,” and we respond by stating, “He is risen, indeed, Alleluia.”  This kind of activity is a blast for the first week, but we need to really work at it to keep this kind of joyfulness going throughout the whole season.

I invite your family to join my family in rejoicing throughout the entire season of Easter – that’s right, all fifty days. How do you celebrate Easter as a family?  How can you make the celebration fully your own this year?

If you haven’t already, you have got to hear Resurrection Day for yourself:

Joshua Danis

Joshua Danis is the Northern Coordinator for the Family and Respect Life Office. He and his wife also are working together to build their lives as a domestic church.