PARISH OUTREACH ON EASTER SUNDAY
Denise Levy and her family are organizing an outreach project for Little Portion Friary. The Levy's are putting together traditional Easter baskets and delivering them on Easter Sunday. Can you help out? Email her at dmlevy@verizon.net.
Denise and her family are bringing the following food items:
Dyed, hard boiled eggs - 3 to 4 dozen
Rye bread - 2 to 3 loaves
Butter lambs - 2 to 3
Whole fruit (I've done a mixture of bananas, apples and oranges in the past)
Yogurt
Orange juice - 2 1/2 gallons (the men there really seem to go through this)
Can you give something too? Please help out this Easter. Thank you Denise and family for your generous spirit! You are a blessing to our parish.
Easter is the greatest Christian holyday. We celebrate Jesus’ Passover from death to life (Mt. 28). Many of the foods traditionally blessed are those of the ancient Passover meal – lamb, bread, wine and bitter herbs (Exodus 12). Read more about the symbolism of traditional Easter foods...
Symbolism of Traditional Easter Foods
Based on In the Home: Blessing of Foods at Easter by Madeline L. Brock
Butter Lamb – through the blood of the lamb, the Israelites were saved (Ex. 12). Jesus is our Passover or Paschal Lamb who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:35-36).
Horseradish – represents the bitter herbs eaten in the Passover meal as a reminder of the bitterness of slavery in Egypt (Ex. 12).
Bread – a Passover component (Ex. 12) and a reminder of Jesus in the Eucharist, the true bread of everlasting life (John 6).
Wine – the drink of the Passover meal and the Last Supper (Mt. 26:26-30). A reminder of the Blood of Christ.
Ham/Sausage – Pork was prohibited in the Old Testament. The New Testament, however, gives freedom (Acts 15). Sausage links show the chains of death Jesus broke at Easter (Exsultet).
Eggs – Jesus breaks forth from the tomb as a chick breaks from its shell. It is fitting to decorate eggs as a sign of our belief in Christ’s Resurrection.
Children’s Easter baskets filled with candy are an imitation of the food baskets brought to Church for the blessing of the first Easter meal.