Sometimes in the Church we worry about diluting what is essential to our tradition to the point where our actions are not recognizably Christian. This is of particular importance is our non-Christian (or post-Christian, if you like), American context. Pastoral action should always build a bridge of resonance between the good news of Jesus, the meanings available to a cultural setting, and the needs of a given local community. That is exactly what the parish at Sacred Heart in Newton is up to.

Memories of youth-time Easter egg hunts often permeate our culture. While Easter, like Christmas, is often secularized, this is an opportunity to draw, to attract, to engage, and we ought not pass up such opportunities.

While the parish hasn’t done an Easter egg hunt for several years, the community sees this tradition as an effective way to connect with young families they might otherwise not reach. This isn’t just an event for longtime parishioners, the whole community is invited. Getting the word out will be a full on effort: there will be yard signs, ads in the newspaper, promotion on social media and website, and flyers in every business that will let them put them up, from Hy-Vee to the YMCA.

Welcoming newcomers is going to be especially important, so the folks at Sacred Heart are going to make sure to visit with anybody they don’t recognize. Handing on the faith comes down to human relationships, and this setting is a great opportunity to start up a conversation.

As adults engage in conversation, the children can delight in the egg hunt. But it won’t be just candy that fills the eggs this spring. Eggs will include kids religious tattoos, prayer cards, cards with Mass times and contact information of parish staff. Some eggs will even have nicer items like a necklace or medal of a saint. The folks at Newton want to bring this full circle by invited attendees to Mass on Easter. The egg hunt will be the Sunday before Easter. Not only does this give people who are traveling for the holiday a chance to participate, it also gives space to invite people to our most meaningful celebration of the liturgical year.

Through our baptism we are always called evangelize. Easter (April 20^th), Ascension (June 1^st), and Pentecost (June 8^th) give a particular focus to that energy this time of year. The Lord has risen, the Lord has ascended, the Spirit comes upon us and sends us out. Here are some evangelization-related questions you can take to prayer for each of these feasts:

Easter

In the resurrection, God achieves victory over sin and death. As John Paul II said in a visit to Australia in 1986, “We are an Easter people and alleluia is our song.” This is a joyful life.

• What seeds of joy does your faith plant in you. How can you share that joy with one other person during the Easter season?

Ascension

Through Christ’s ascension we recognize that he is no longer bound by time and space. He is no longer an itinerant preacher in Palestine, but present through all the earth, where the Church is sent to go.

• Christ is already everywhere all the time, even though he may not be recognized. Where are the corners of your world where Christ’s presence has not yet been named? How can you joyfully name his presence?

Pentecost

At Pentecost the disciples become apostles, the learners become the teachers, the evangelized become the evangelizers. We share in this apostolic mission.

• We all have comfort zones, and God regularly interrupts these comfort zones. What comfort zone is getting in the way of you living out the good news? What concrete steps can you take to move beyond this comfort zone?