How to Celebrate Easter with Family and Friends?

What is Easter?

Easter day is the most important religious holiday for Christians, as well as a well-known event for non-religious people. What makes Easter such a big celebration? It’s the day that Jesus rose from the dead three days after being killed, sometimes called “the Resurrection” and defeated evil forever. The ultimate sacrifice was done and the humanity was saved as all thru his name will be cleanse of sins. This is the day when Jesus Christ shows his divinity and turn into the symbol of salvation to humanity.

Easter is really an entire season of the Christian church year, as opposed to a single-day observance. Lent, the 40-day period leading up to Easter Sunday, is a time of reflection and penance which represents the 40 days that Jesus spent alone in the wilderness before starting his ministry, a time in which Christians believe he survived various temptations by the devil. The day before Lent, known as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, is a last hurrah of food and fun before the fasting begins. The week preceding Easter is called Holy Week and includes Maundy Thursday, which commemorates Jesus’ last supper with his disciples; Good Friday, which honors the day of his crucifixion; and Holy Saturday, which focuses on the transition between the crucifixion and resurrection. The 50-day period following Easter Sunday is called Eastertide and includes a celebration of Jesus’ ascension into heaven.

When is Easter this year?

So what day is Easter? For 2017, it will fall on 16th of April. Noticed why I said it with the year at front? The Date of Easter was never fixed. The date of Easter was determined thru the first Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox around on the time on March 21. Therefore it will be observed anywhere between the 22nd till 25th of April yearly. Some of the Orthodox Christians use the Julian calendar to calculate when Easter will occur and typically celebrate the holiday a week or two after the western churches, which followed the Gregorian calendar.

How to celebrate Easter?

1. Attend Easter Service at Church

You can visit your local church for their Easter sermon. Usually an early morning prayer will be held on the day, singing songs and sharing joys around the brother and sisters of churches. The church authorities will also pass out eggs for the people as the symbol of Jesus’s rebirth. It will be a jolly day where the Christians will share stories among their friends, inviting them for a feast and tell biblical stories to the children.

2. Go Hiking with Family or Friends

Aside the Christian biblical story of salvations, Easter were actually a close resemblance to some of the olden time spring celebration. As the word Easter might be Eostre, a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility. Usually, it is the time of the year when weather begins to get warmer. Taking a long walk or hike with family and friends is a good option to spend Easter Sunday. If you don’t like hiking, an afternoon picnic gathering at park would be lovely. Simply take some sandwiches with you, and smell the spring in the air.

3. Have an Easter Brunch

Many people love to have brunch on Easter Sunday. Some family even has the tradition of hosting Easter brunch celebration together. If you bother to make it by yourself, you can just go out and find a restaurant that serves Easter brunch specials. Of course that you can’t have Easter without some eggs! Egg is a pagan symbol of fertility and rebirth, which associated with all things springtime. Christians adopted this idea to represent the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a reminder that he rose from the grave. All egg recipes can be well fit to your thematic Easter meals.

4. Decorate Easter Eggs

Decorating the eggs seems like an amusement only for kids, however, it has been a tradition for centuries. Despite the symbolism being uplifting, you must try the fun of decorating your very own Easter eggs! Recent years, the painting of the Easter eggs might be takeover by the factory made chocolate coated sweets but the joy of making your hands dirty over painted eggs that is irreplaceable. Just make sure you use the hard-boiled eggs.

5. Have an Easter Egg Hunt

Some will have enjoyed the day by creating hundreds or more Easter eggs and hid it around the neighborhood. It’s a sight to behold where during the Easter day the kids will go for the egg hunting, it wasn’t a competition but just a way to let the children enjoy the day and let the happiness and the story of Easter able to pass around. New technology might put a dent in the tradition Easter egg hunting vibe, but with great planning, still the kids will went out for their adventure of the day.

6. Prepare Easter Basket

The Easter bunny is an exciting part of Easter for children. They are told that the Easter bunny arrives overnight, leaving delicious treats, fun trinkets, and Cadbury eggs. So the first thing kids would do when they wake up is rushing to the basket filled with Easter goods. If you don’t want to disappoint your kids, you’d better prepare one.

As for the origin of Easter bunny, the Floppy-eared bearer of candy came to America in the 1700s with German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania and brought their tradition of an egg-laying hare called “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws.” The children would make nests where the hare would lay their colorful eggs. Eventually, the custom spread across the U.S. and the fabled bunny’s Easter morning deliveries expanded to chocolate and other types of candy and gifts, while decorated baskets replaced the nests.

7. DIY Easter Cards

For distant family and friends, you can express your heartwarming Easter wishes through DIY Easter cards. Don’t be intimidated by the word “DIY.” With AmoLink, you can easily create a greeting card in minutes. First, choose an Easter template you like. Second, customize with your own photos. Third, save and share the Easter card to your loved one. And it’s done! For more tutorials, you can read this article - How to Create Photo Slideshow with Music Online? Believe it or not, you can make an Easter card just as great as below. No matter how far apart you are, a personalized Easter greeting card will make your loved ones feel connected.

Moreover, you must take lots of fun photos on Easter Sunday, and you can choose some of your favorite moments and turn them into a memorable Easter photo show. Well, you just get something different to post on your Facebook, Twitter or whatever.

Easter Day Celebration is none like other feast; it is a day of appreciations and the joy of Jesus resurrection. Enjoy the day with your family, share it with your friends, and pray. May you all have a blessed Easter Day.