Happy Easter Again at Work

Happy Easter! Yes, it's Easter on this Thursday of the Easter Octave. Said Octave makes each day the "equivalent" of Easter Sunday. Each is what's called a "solemnity." Gauge the reality of their "special-ness" this way, perhaps: Easter Friday permits the eating of meat for those who observe the traditional Friday abstinence.

So Happy Easter!

Meanwhile, it's work time. And our Solemnity will likely not be observed in the workplace. So our challenge this day will be somehow "keep" the Solemnity of this Easter Thursday firmly entrenched in our minds and hearts. If we were at least modestly successful in carrying out our Lenten discipline during our working hours (whatever it may have been for each of us), then let's try to keep our Easter joy firmly entrenched today, no matter the business at hand.

It's not a trivial thing. It's part of our daily effort to sanctify our work. And therefore it becomes an important component of our working our way to Heaven, i.e., working in such as manner that each thought, word, and deed of our work day advances our spiritual life.

Not only is it not a trivial matter, it's not an easy matter either. We stand up against forces that either want nothing to do with our spiritual struggle, or those that actively oppose it.

The former forces - those that will not have anything to do with our spiritual struggle - consist of this world. Yes, it is God's creation. But it remains a stumbling block when it presents itself as having nothing to do with God. And that's pretty much how it does present itself, isn't it? - at least judged by so many of the people in it who have shaped our current culture.

For example, during the heyday of Christendom, there were many more feast days where work was left to wait and the people celebrated in some fashion. Easter Week was one of those times. While essential work always needs doing, work that wasn't essential could be set aside. In some European countries, despite the fact that much of Europe is decidedly post-Christian and thoroughly secular, Monday was a holiday - a throwback to those "Good Old Days" of Christendom's glory.

Though we're left o our own devices here and now on this work-day-as-usual, if we've cultivated our Interior Life we can "retreat" in some fashion into that sacred space and silently celebrate on our own. (We can certainly also more explicitly keep our Easter Spirit and celebrations in our homes.)

Maybe we can recall that at one time the Catechumins who were baptized at the Easter Vigil Mass would wear their white baptismal gowns during the Easter Octave. So with the world chugging along as if nothing special was going on, we will, on the other hand, we can remain spiritual "dressed" in our own spiritual white Easter gown.

It's a thought anyway.

As for the forces that actively oppose Easter, we face the basic breakdown of world, flesh, and the devil.

The secular world can be more of a passive stumbling block. But let's not make light of the outright anti-Christian segment out there. They really can't stand Christianity, and that means they can't stand - or outright hate - Jesus Christ. 

And, of course, there's the Devil, who seethes with hatred during any of our Holy Seasons and ramps up his attacks. Those who deny his existence, or who do not regularly pray for the grace to resist his attacks will be especially vulnerable. So be aware. Don't offer yourself as a tasty snack to the Evil One during this Easter Season. Our best defense, with the Grace of God, is to keep up our spiritual discipline, which for many of us means not to slip into over-indulgence, or outright abandonment of the basics of our Lenten discipline - prayer, fasting, almsgiving. These Three Pillars, though practiced with special fervor during Lent, remain our most powerful weapons in the fight for sanctity against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

For us men at work today, we can at the very least attend to our tasks with fervor and exactness; we can resist distractions that might delay the prompt performance of our duties; we can eschew any involvement in gossip and do our best to set a good example of charity and patience with all in the workplace, our customers and clients. We can come home with more a smile than a grumble.

Thoughts of what Our Lord gave us in His Passion, Death, and Resurrection should provide the ballast to keep our feet on the ground, facing God, throughout the work day. They should bolster us even in the midst of the busyness and challenges we face. They can lift us out of ourselves and bring us, even if only a millimeter, closer to God.

And so, even at work today, it's Happy Easter yet again.

Happy Easter!