THE OCTAVE OF EASTER

                Easter is the Church’s holiest day of the year. We announce to the world that Christ lives. This celebration will continue for 50 days until Pentecost when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit.

                Liturgically, the Octave of Easter, “eight days” begins with the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday and continues through the second Sunday of Easter. Every day is another Easter, to rejoice in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

                St. Augustine refers to the Octave of Easter as “days of mercy and pardon,” calling the Sunday of the Paschal Octave “the summary of the days of mercy.” After his resurrection, Jesus took great care to show his apostles the wounds of his passion, especially the wound in his heart, the source from which flows the mercy poured out on humanity.

                Since 2000, the Church has designated the final day of the Octave, the Second Sunday of Easter, as the Sunday of Divine Mercy to celebrate the fact that Jesus still calls us to immerse ourselves in his mercy and love.

                Throughout the Easter season, the Mass readings emphasize that all Christians must share the good news of the love of God: Christ has risen from the dead. As baptized Christians, we also are sent out to share this Good News with others. God, in his merciful love desires that we share the Good News of his mercy with others, especially during this Jubilee Year of Mercy.