The Second Sunday of Easter

Today is The Second Sunday of Easter.  That is its liturgical designation.  A lot of people look at it as “the Sunday after Easter.”  Statistically, it is the lowest-attended Sunday for worship services and other church gatherings of the entire year.  That has always messed with my mind.  I mean, EASTER -- The Feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, the defining moment in our Christian faith -- was one week ago.  Now, everybody’s gone.  Even those marginal, usually-there to frequently-there church attenders take the day off.  It is the day for the hard-core church participant.

People believe that it’s over.  They have found the eggs.  They have eaten the candy.  They no longer view their Easter outfits as “new.”  It is back to business as usual.  That has always messed with my mind.

Liturgically of course we are barely underway.  The church recognizes the “Season of Easter” as working itself out over the course of about seven weeks.  Indeed, “Easter Season” or “Eastertide” are terms that non-liturgical communions tend to employ.  It is not unheard-of for more formal denominations to use these terms, but that is usually to avoid repetition.  Liturgical churches will usually choose the title “The Great Fifty Days.”  The celebration itself runs from the Easter Vigil on the night of Holy Saturday/Easter Sunday and runs through Evening Prayer on the Day of Pentecost.  It is a good, long draught out of the year that the church dedicates to the celebration of the Resurrection. 

As for today itself, it is the end of the Octave of Easter and much of the church observes these eight days as a solemnity (feast of the highest rank).  That in itself would cause some folks to embrace the day and not abandon it.  In the history of the church – especially in the English-speaking world – there was a time when the church called today “Low Sunday,” I can only imagine that it was because of some of the thoughts I mentioned above.  Mercifully, the church has all but abandoned such a label.

So, go to church.  Enjoy the elbow room.  Pray that folks don’t forget worship until next Easter.