Easter. The great gift of Hope!
Easter celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his Crucifixion and is preceded by Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, prayers and penance.
The real celebration begins with an Easter Vigil and on Easter Eve, the resurrection of Jesus is celebrated. It is the culmination of Passion of the Christ final period in the life of Jesus. Churches are decorated to host the Easter Mass. The re-enactment of Christ's resurrection with eye-catching theatrical effects and light arrangements displays the creativity and craftsmanship of the laity in various parishes.
Most Christian households in Kerala start festivities with an early visit to the church to attend the Easter Sunday service and then prepare scrumptious meals in their homes.
Soon after sunrise, the priests distribute cake and in some places, a glass of wine to signal the end of the 40 days of Lent. After exchanging the customary Easter pleasantries, most Malabar Christians rush back home to have the most important meal of the day — the Easter breakfast which consists of appam and stew or curry.
The staple food for Easter, the chicken roast rules over all other preparations but the Easter feast would be incomplete without the turkey roast and the coconut pudding.
While Indian Easter traditions now include egg hunts, giant easter filled with candies, eggs and chocolate bunnies, many believe that the festive spread is incomplete without the traditional home-cooked delicacies.
For Syrian Christians, the choice of meats on Easter varies from the dry roast of various types of meat to duck prepared in coconut milk and mild spices, which is an Easter favourite.
Meat with white, fluffy appams, made with fresh palm, coconut-flavoured rice and root vegetables is an eternal favourite.
For Palakkar, appam and egg curry is a must for breakfast while for lunch, they cook beef ularth and chicken curry.
People in Alappuzha are partial to duck and break the Lent enjoying duck roast and palappam.
When it comes to the Angamaly area, people prefer pork and rice while in northern areas, mutton stew is served in the morning.
Usually, the traditional Easter lunch is rice accompanied by non-vegetarian dishes with various varieties of meat and fish.
While the Catholic community lays special emphasis on pork, the others rely on beef and chicken and in some places mutton, but fish fry and the traditional fish curry is everywhere.
Families prepare elaborate feasts featuring traditional Kerala dishes as well as special Easter delicacies. Duck, mutton, chicken, fish and turkey dishes are common, along with a variety of vegetarian options. Dishes like vellayappam, palappam, and vattayappam are also popular choices for Easter.
Most Christians generally consider Jesus to be the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, as well as the one and only Son of God.
Jesus Christ taught love as the secret of wisdom.
The earthly life of Christ was contemporary with that of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, who spent his life in cruelty and disgusting debauchery and perversion.
Tiberius had pomp and power; in his day, millions trembled at his nod. But he is forgotten, unlike
Jesus, whom humankind reveres.
People throughout the Bible recognized and acknowledged that the only source of lasting strength is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Those who live nobly, even if in their day they live obscurely, need not fear that they will have lived in vain. Something radiates from their lives, some light that shows the way to their friends, their neighbours perhaps to long future ages.
Wishing you all a Happy Easter! Cheers to new beginnings and second chances and may your Easter Sunday be filled with warmth and light.
#easter #resurrection #jesuschrist #keralachristians
