Mormons And Easter

[Traela]

Our stake was specifically instructed NOT to have fast Sunday on Easter. I assumed it was a Church-wide directive; I guess it must be only for the region.

Easter is the most important holy day of the year. I think it's entirely appropriate to do something special for it.

[Saints Alive]

Uhhh ... Shouldn't that be, "The last supper is the only annual religious holiday that Jehovah Witnesses celebrate"? Just wonderin'!

thanks! Beyond spellcheck I am useless. :'(

[blueadept]

  I think it's entirely appropriate to do something special for it.

Can an F&T meeting be something 'special' for an Easter Sunday? Just curious.

[Saints Alive]

Can an F&T meeting be something 'special' for an Easter Sunday? Just curious.

I'm not really displeased with the standard sacrament meeting for Easter, as long as the talks focus on the resurrection and atonement. I would like to see a special Thursdaynight sacrament meeting to commemorate the last supper.

[LDSToronto]

That's unfortunate. I'm sorry to hear that.

I've heard a few women express this same sentiment about Mother's Day services.

[Scott Lloyd]

Our whole stake is having fast and testimony meeting this sunday. Absolutely no mention has been made of it also being Easter (though i'm sure it will be acknowedged once sacrament meeting starts).

Since such scheduling is done on a stake basis, it doesn't surprise me that the whole stake is doing it.

[LDSToronto]

Concerning Easter and LDS celebrations, I think there is some correlation to the way that it is celebrated in society. Christmas is a time for families, gatherings, good will, and expressions of love in various forms of giving and celebration. A lay ministry can easily relate to these actions - think about the talks you hear at Christmas in your various wards, and the efforts to invite friends and family. I'm not saying this to be critical; I just think Christmas is an easier holiday to observe and relate to.

Easter, on the other hand, is celebrated as a religious observance. Catholic churches will hold masses, Baptist congregations will celebrate religious traditions. Jews will celebrate Passover. As a society, Easter is not a time for family gatherings on the same scale as Christmas. Rather, it's a time of reflection and contemplation and atonement. Thus, I think it's harder for a lay ministry to relate to the the complexities of Easter and it's underlying doctrine.

Just my opinion.

H.

[Scott Lloyd]

a devotional is a far cry from a worship service.

Umm, not all that far. Prayers, talks, music, reverent atmosphere. There is much the same.

[Kenngo1969]

I've heard a few women express this same sentiment about Mother's Day services.

And, as I said, that's unfortunate.

[Kenngo1969]

thanks! Beyond spellcheck I am useless. :'(

It also depends on what sort of device you're using to connect to the site. Don't worry; I'm an "Equal-Opportunity Needler": My bishop (I'm his executive secretary) orally dictates e-mails and IMs into his smart phone. Most of the time it's pretty accurate, but I might get an e-mail about a meeting at the "steak" center, or about "work" council.

[bluebell]

I've heard a few women express this same sentiment about Mother's Day services.

Yes, it's typical.

Women are very good at hearing about the strengths of another woman and comparing them to their own weaknesses. Thus, making themselves feel like failures for no real reason other than that someone was praising their mother.

[LDSToronto]

Yes, it's typical.

Women are very good at hearing about the strengths of another woman and comparing them to their own weaknesses. Thus, making themselves feel like failures for no real reason other than that someone was praising their mother.

I think this is accurate. Now Father's Day, that's another matter. Every year in the ward I most recently attended, a primary kid, a YM or YW, and a wife speak about their own father or husband. There was a big difference in men's reactions on Father's Day and women's reactions on Mother's Day. After Father's Day sacrament meeting, the protagonist of each talk would receive the most intense ribbing after the talk was over, because as friends, we knew that most of what was said was complete BS.

Plus we got chocolate bars instead of flowers.

H.

[Scott Lloyd]

I might get an e-mail about a meeting at the "steak" center ...

Maybe he wants you to meet him down at the Black Angus.

[Scott Lloyd]

Yes, it's typical.

Women are very good at hearing about the strengths of another woman and comparing them to their own weaknesses. Thus, making themselves feel like failures for no real reason other than that someone was praising their mother.

Our ward doesn't give out stuff after Father's Day programs anymore. I'm glad, because I already feel so guilty -- like I don't measure up or something.

[Log]

I'll keep on taking my chocolate chip cookies and Hershey's Kisses, thanks. I'm the best dad my kids have.

[Scott Lloyd]

I'll keep on taking my chocolate chip cookies and Hershey's Kisses, thanks. I'm the best dad my kids have.

Stop it. You're making me feel inadequate.

[Log]

[Stargazer]

I really don't want Easter to resemble Christmas. I don't know how to put that.

It would be hard to make it so, unless suddenly a tradition of gift-giving sprung up. This is unlikely in the extreme.

[Stargazer]

Actually, we celebrate Easter practically every Sunday. It's called the Sacrament, and if the words of the modern prophets can be relied upon, the Sacrament is hands-down the most sacred ordinance in the Church. When we stop taking that ordinance lightly, then we won't need Easter.

[bluebell]

Our ward doesn't give out stuff after Father's Day programs anymore. I'm glad, because I already feel so guilty -- like I don't measure up or something.

I don't really get it either.....

[bluebell]

Actually, we celebrate Easter practically every Sunday. It's called the Sacrament, and if the words of the modern prophets can be relied upon, the Sacrament is hands-down the most sacred ordinance in the Church. When we stop taking that ordinance lightly, then we won't need Easter.

When did having a sacred holiday to celebrate the resurrection suddenly become a sign that we're sinning in regards to the sacrament?

We're not Jehovah's Witnesses, after all.

[Calm]

When did having a sacred holiday to celebrate the resurrection suddenly become a sign that we're sinning in regards to the sacrament?

We're not Jehovah's Witnesses, after all.

It seems strange to turn down an opportunity to create sacred space in our life.

[bluebell]

It seems strange to turn down an opportunity to create sacred space in our life.

It does.

[Stargazer]

Actually, we celebrate Easter practically every Sunday. It's called the Sacrament, and if the words of the modern prophets can be relied upon, the Sacrament is hands-down the most sacred ordinance in the Church. When we stop taking that ordinance lightly, then we won't need Easter.

When did having a sacred holiday to celebrate the resurrection suddenly become a sign that we're sinning in regards to the sacrament?

We're not Jehovah's Witnesses, after all.

bluebell: if you choose to respond to my post by restating what I said using words and meaning that I did not include in my post, isn't that the very definition of "straw man"? And calmoriah: you agreed with her false restatement of my words, so I assume you're OK with it.

There is nothing in my post (see above) which suggests that there is any sin against the Sacrment if we celebrate Easter. All I did was to suggest that some members may take the Sacrament too lightly (perhaps because they see if every week), and if they took it in the way it really should be taken, well, then they would have Easter every week. This would have the effect of creating a regular sacred space in their lives, as opposed to one that comes 'round once a year.

And just in case you still haven't understood what I have written, let me make it clearer for you by restating and expanding upon it.

The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper takes precedence in sacredness over all other ordinances, and over all holiday observances, and this because of the nature of the sacrifice that it is intended to remind us of, and that it commemorates. You will note that at no time in the New Testament were we ever admonished to celebrate any holiday whatsoever. No Passover, no Feast of Tabernacles, no Day of Atonement. In fact, there were no holiday observances mentioned at all in the New Testament as prescriptive for Christians. And when the Lord restored His Church upon the earth, He confirmed that trend by prescribing no holiday observances whatsoever. But one thing that the Lord did prescribe was the Sacrament. "This do in remembrance of me," He said. Nothing else. It's importance should be clear from that neat, clean, straighforward and uncomplicated admonition.

As you point out, the Jehovah's Witnesses make a point of not celebrating Christmas because no such holiday was prescribed. That's their right, I suppose, but I don't see how failure to prescribe constitutes a proscription. What I said had nothing to do with the JW's however.

I did not say that if we choose to celebrate Easter or Christmas that we were somehow sinning in regards to the Sacrament. What I am saying is that if we regard those non-prescriptive holidays over the truly most sacred ordinance of the Sacrament that we have the opportunity to partake of weekly, then we are putting that which is of small importance over that which is of all importance. Again, just to repeat myself, if you think I'm saying that that this is a sin, I tell you again that I am not. What I am saying that if we do this, then we do not understand the importance of the Sacrament.

Have I made myself clear?

[Calm]

I was responding to Bluebell's comment, not to her comment about your comment....