Fifty! Fifty DAYS...of Easter? Really? What's up with that? We do a great job in the church when it comes to Lent. For forty days we make some headway in giving things up and surrendering them up to God. We sometimes struggle with what to do with the part about taking up our cross...but over all we "get" Lent. And just as Advent is a time to prepare for Christmas...Lent helps us prepare for Easter. Not just the DAY...but the season. After 40 days of penitence comes 50 days of Celebration! Celebrating Christ's victory over death... the bondage of sin being broken...life overcoming the grave...New Creation! Bishop N.T. Wright, an Anglican theologian, once wrote this about Eastertide: “We are Easter people! We stand on resurrection ground. Easter is not only our greatest party (much greater by the way than Christmas, whatever you do on Christmas you ought to do ten times as much at Easter); Easter is the only reason we are here at all! We should meet regularly for Easter parties. We should drink champagne at breakfast. We should renew baptismal vows with splashing water all over the place. And we should sing and dance and blow trumpets and put out banners in the streets. And we should invite the homeless people to parties and we should go around town doing random acts of generosity and celebration. We should be doing things which would make our sober and serious neighbors say, ‘What is the meaning of this outrageous party?'” Easter is our time. As followers of Jesus, we are resurrection people! The old way of living is being transformed by the power of the resurrection (Christ in you – the hope of glory). So from now to the day of Pentecost we celebrate Easter every day. And with the literal change of season from winter to spring we are provided with daily reminders of new life. So, I encourage you to look for them as we celebrate the new life we have in our risen Lord! Blessings, Matthew+ O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP p. 222) | 
