Easter: It’s a Big Deal

I’m a Catholic, so this weekend I’m celebrating a particular series of events.

Seriously

Two millennia back, someone was tortured and executed. We celebrated, maybe “remembered” or “observed” would be a better word, that on Thursday and Friday.

Saturday — I see it as a day when we wait and review what led up to that execution and what happened later. The day’s readings this year are from Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah, Baruch, Ezekiel, Romans and Matthew.

Sunday, tomorrow, is the big celebration of our year. Calling it a celebration makes sense, since a few days after he’d been killed, Jesus stopped being dead.

By any reasonable standard, that’s a very big deal:

• “A Messy Death, an Empty Tomb, and the Best News Ever”
  (April 19, 2025)

There’s a great deal more I could say about Easter, the Resurrection, and why Jesus matters.

But this household’s Internet provider is doing maintenance: which means I couldn’t be online as much as usual. Besides, I’ve talked about Easter and Jesus before. You’ll find a few links at the end of this post.

NOT Seriously: Easter Cards of Yesteryear

There’s a lot of history behind today’s greeting cards, starting at least when new printing technologies made mass producing the things practical. Maybe I’ll dive down that rabbit hole some day, but not this week.

Instead, I’ll share a few late-19th and early-20th century Easter-themed greeting cards I found, starting with one where I know who designed the thing: late 19th / early 20th century German illustrator Arthur Thiele.

One reason I don’t deplore my culture’s distressing failure to be steadfastly serious about the year’s great celebrations — is that I know a little history. Quite a little, actually. Including how folks responded to the Easter season. Besides, I don’t like hand-wringing.

A tip of the hat to whoever found the final three cards I’m sharing this year:

• “Quirky Victorian Easter Cards Reveal Surprisingly Twisted Humor”
  Racing Nellie Bly (April 19, 2019)

More, serious and otherwise:

• Who and what Easter is about
  • “Just Who is This Jesus Person, and Who Does He Think He is?” (October 8, 2022)
    • “Those Who Followed Were Afraid”??
    • Claiming Divinity
    • The Man Who Said “I AM” and Defeated Death
  • “Easter: Parades, Eggs, and the Best News Ever” (April 16, 2022)
    • “I Have Seen the Lord”
      • Testimony, Evidence and Belief
• A few funny pictures
  • “Four Strange Easter Cards from Yesteryear” (March 30, 2024)