Jesus completes our Exodus out of slavery to sin and death through the triumph of his Resurrection. He calls us to live differently, building new habits of freedom that express the fruits of his victory, which he gave us at Baptism. Through our communion with him, our lives should be different from the world, marked by greater hope and joy because we know that we have passed from death into life in him. After the Resurrection, Jesus entrusted his disciples with the mission to bring the Good News of Salvation to all the nations. Every member of his Body, the Church, continues this mission in his own way.
This Easter season, we can embrace the mission God has given to us, meditating on how God teaches us to live in his freedom. We will do this by reading the Book of Deuteronomy, following Moses’s instructions to the Israelites on how to live when they enter the Promised Land. We will see how Jesus perfects this teaching by deepening our understanding of the commandments through the gift of the Holy Spirit, who moves us to act from within through the love of God. Our daily prayer will enable us to discern how we can carry out our personal mission to follow God’s will in the world, sharing his gift of salvation with others.
In order to express the new life won for us by Jesus and our own mission to share it, we will both celebrate and continue to grow. First, as a fraternity, we will celebrate throughout the Easter season, making acts of uncommon leisure through festivity and recreation, gathering to express Easter joy. Second, we will focus on building a new habit to express the life given to us by the Resurrection. As we renew the gift and promise of our baptism, we will seek to live it out even more fully. At the end of the Easter season, we will be able to say that we made the most of this glorious season by embracing its celebratory character and drawing upon its power to live differently.
Easter 50 Disciplines
Read Easter Reading & Reflection. Easter brings us into the Promised Land, a place of deeper communion with God that Christ has won for us in his Resurrection. In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses prepared Israel to enter into the realization of the Exodus journey in a life of freedom with God. Likewise, we will follow Jesus into the fulfillment of his plan for us to live in uncommon freedom as we celebrate his victory.
20 Minutes of Silent Prayer. We experience the joy of Easter primarily in prayer. By setting aside twenty minutes of silent prayer, expressed in meditation and personal prayer, we find the peace we need to live out the gifts of new life in Christ. In silence, God slowly transforms us from within and prepares us to embrace his will for us.
Embrace Your Personal Mission. After the Resurrection, Jesus sent his apostles on a mission to the nations. As Christian men, we take up our own role within the mission of the Church in our prayer, family life, and work. Easter provides us an opportunity to reflect and act upon God’s call in our lives, which he has empowered through his Holy Spirit.
Renew Your Baptismal Promises. Baptism draws us into Jesus's Death and Resurrection. Just as converts receive Baptism at the Easter Vigil, all Christians renew the promises made at Baptism to renounce Satan, believe in God and his plan of salvation, and live out this faith. Firmly renewing these promises can become a source of renewal, enabling us to embrace our personal mission.
Build a New, Daily Habit. The new life of the Promised Land takes shape through daily concrete habits. Focusing on building one particular habit over the course of the Easter season will begin a process of lasting change. This habit can maintain newfound freedom, address a lingering problem, express the holy leisure of Easter, or propel your personal mission forward.
Regular Fraternity Social. The Christian life relies on the support of community. To express the joy of the Easter season, we celebrate as a fraternity. This includes opportunities for feasting, recreation, and leisure throughout the Easter season. You can invite family members and friends to join on occasion as well. During these events, we continue to pray together and to support one another as we embrace our mission.
No Meat Friday. Even in a festive season, Fridays remain a day of penance (except on the most solemn days, such as in the Easter Octave). The need to embrace the Cross continues even after we receive the fruits of Jesus’s Resurrection because the battle against temptation remains. These days of sacrifice help us to grow in love for God and to intercede for others.
Celebrate the Lord's Day. Sundays are the Lord’s Day, the Day the Resurrection, dedicated to divine worship and acts of leisure that express the freedom it brings. The Lord’s Day reminds us that we are made for more than the daily concerns of this life, calling us to live joyfully as sons of the Father. We celebrate the day with our family and friends as a means of honoring God and finding rest in him.