What does Easter and Pentecost mean to Catholics

To understand Easter, it is important to reflect on what Christ achieved for us through his passion, death and resurrection in relation to eternal life.  God loved us so much that he sent his only Son to die for our sins (John 3:16-17).  By dying on the cross, Jesus conquered sin and death, by rising from the dead, he restored us to life, so that whoever believes in him will live forever in his eternal kingdom (John 11:25-26).  It is the greatest act of love and the greatest assurance of hope:  God's love for mankind and Jesus' promise of hope, eternal life for all who believe in him.

We celebrate this beautiful Paschal mystery at every Catholic mass, recalling God' unending mercy and love for each one of us, his plan for salvation and the fulfillment of that plan through his Son Jesus Christ (CCC 652).  May we strive to live in holiness and readiness for Christ's return (1 Peter 2:24), in anticipation of the final passover, sustained and nourished by the sacraments of Catholic Church and in joyful hope of everlasting life.

"We are an Easter People, and Alleluia is our song!"   (St John Paull II)

Pentecost Sunday brings the season of Easter to a close. Jesus breathes his Spirit on the disciples, who have trust in all that the Spirit has done, and hope in all that the Spirit will do in them. The ancient Pentecost commemoration of the revelation of God (through the giving of the Torah and the making of the covenant) was now celebrated by the early Christians as the revelation of God through the outpouring of the Spirit.  In Jesus’s words of farewell to his disciples,  the
‘Spirit of truth’ is promised to us as it was to them. So today, we can say, this is our season in the Spirit and the consolations of the Spirit – ‘love, joy, peace ... gentleness and self-control’ are ours for the receiving.