Catholic social tips
Once Lent ends, it signals for most Catholics that they can resume doing whatever they gave up. It’s like an exhale of relief that it’s over.
If your Lenten experience didn’t transform you, you can still experience a closer connection to Christ during Eastertide, the season of the Resurrection. While Lent was focused on sacrifice, as Jesus sacrificed his life for us to have everlasting life, Eastertide is 50 days of celebrating the glory of the Resurrection.
Jesus appeared to his disciples for 40 days before his ascension to heaven. Then, the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles at Pentecost, empowering them to share the Gospel and signaling the beginning of Christianity.
As believers and followers of Christ, we are also empowered to model and share the message of our Lord as his disciples. Here are ways that you can be a disciple of Christ during Eastertide:
1. Share your testimony of faith with someone. Many people follow me on my social media pages, where I share daily how I live as a Catholic woman today. I have experienced things that have often caused believers to leave the church because they felt unwelcome, abandoned, broken by a loss, or even betrayed by clergy or parish staff.
Some ask me why I stayed after experiencing something so painful. It provides me with an opportunity to be a disciple by sharing Scripture passages or time praying for God to speak to my heart. Sometimes going to confession heals a painful wound in a profoundly holy way; sharing that with someone with unforgiveness can be such a gift.
2. Reflect on and share the fruits of the spirit of Pentecost.
- Love: Find ways to share God’s love with others.
- Joy: Share your smile with a stranger.
- Peace: Spend some time in a sacred space or with nature in silence.
- Patience: In times of impatience, breathe in the Holy Spirit to calm you.
- Kindness: Choose to be kind when you feel angry or frustrated with others.
- Generosity: Give to Catholic Relief Services or a local charity.
- Faithfulness: Pray for God to reveal where your faith needs to grow.
- Gentleness: Ask God and the Holy Spirit to help you be gentle and forgiving with yourself.
- Self-control: Pray for God to reveal to you where you should exercise self-control.
3. Spend time in adoration or pray facing the tabernacle or Blessed Sacrament exposed. The Lord is with us in the Eucharist, whether displayed in a monstrance or stored in a tabernacle. When we pray with him in adoration or receive him in holy Communion, we celebrate the glory of the Resurrection.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “If the Eucharist is the memorial of the Passover of the Lord Jesus, if by our communion at the altar we are filled ‘with every grace and heavenly blessing,’ then the Eucharist is also an anticipation of the heavenly glory” (CCC 1402).
4. Reflect on Scripture (Lk 24:13-35). This Scripture recounts the story of the road to Emmaus, depicting Jesus walking with the disciples after he rose from the dead. Read this Scripture and reflect on it using the prayer practice of “lectio divina” (“divine reading”). Reflect and pray for God to help you see him in others, study Scripture and feel the real presence of Christ, the body and blood you receive in holy Communion.
5. Create a gratitude journal. Eastertide is a season synonymous with gratitude. Before bed each night, write down five things you are grateful for. You can buy a simple journal, use your Google Calendar or send yourself an email each day.
After 50 days of recorded examples of gratitude, you will have a well of resources to draw from in times of trial, serving as pearls of hope and wisdom.
Blessed Eastertide!
Sherry Hayes-Peirce is a social media consultant based in Southern California.
