Catholic Herald

My sister loves Easter morning. Now a married adult, she still appreciates brightly colored baskets, jellybeans, and pastel Easter eggs as much as she did as a child. Her attachment to our childhood traditions reminds me how indelibly joyful these memories can be.

Yet these images of Easter celebration follow days of sacrifice. On the First Sunday of Lent, we hear Luke’s description of Jesus’ time in the desert, and we are urged to turn away from sin and follow Him.  We make sacrifices and lifestyle changes in order to, as Pope Benedict XVI described in his 2009 Lenten message, “heal all that prevents [us] from conformity to the will of God.” With the help of God’s grace, we face our own temptations and empty ourselves to make room for faith and love.

Because we experience Lenten darkness, we can better appreciate the Easter light. Just as Jesus rose from the dead, we too experience new life on Easter Sunday, and we decorate our homes with corresponding signs.

In his 2009 Holy Saturday homily, Pope Benedict focused on three symbols: light, water, and the Alleluia. For parents seeking to make Easter joy tangible for children, these symbols speak the “light of the world,” the “water of true life,” and the source of all joy. In addition to Easter baskets, decorating the home with symbols of light, water, and new life can create an atmosphere of rebirth. Consider asking a priest to bless your home or placing a vase of Easter lilies near an image or statue of the Blessed Mother. Physical changes in the home can help kids conceptualize spiritual transfiguration.

For parents, Easter offers the perfect opportunity to resume with gusto our efforts to live balanced, Christ-centered lives. Lisa Hendey, creator of CatholicMom.com, believes that — in addition to decorating for the liturgical year — parents teach their children to love the faith by trying to live as “happy, productive, and selfless models of Christ’s love incarnate.” To take on such a responsibility, parents must regularly seek the ways that Jesus wants to renew them in their vocation. In her new book, The Handbook for Catholic Moms, Lisa explains that our “larger family,” our Catholic Church, gives us “many of the tools necessary to refresh and renew our souls.”

Too often, we parents lose our compasses. Worn down by the demands of laundry and taxes, diapers and expense reports, we can become complacent about caring for our own hearts, minds, bodies, and souls. As Lisa explains, though, we need to seek the ways that Jesus wants to renew us, “so that we have the energy, spirit, and peaceful souls to help take care of those who fill our homes and lives.”

Easter is our time for spiritual spring cleaning. Just as children eagerly await the iconic experiences of the Easter season, we parents can look forward to the peace and gratitude we feel as we sweep away the parts of ourselves that Jesus wants us to leave behind and discover the new paths that He has set for us this year. Lent leads us to this Easter season of joy and rebirth; we owe it to ourselves and our families to embrace the opportunity.