Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Catechesis Collective

May 2025

Kara Dodds from the Children and Families team brings a monthly reflection and resources to support

Did you know ‘alleluia’ means praise the Lord? The Christian family around the world resounds in praise to God all year, but especially during the 50 days of Easter, which are set apart as a time to give thanks for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter is a great time to normalise proclaiming the good news. I encourage you to begin each meal with this Easter acclamation and to initiate celebrations where you and your children can share the good news. Let the kids invite school friends over for a hot chocolate party or other fun feast to celebrate Easter. Having practised the Alleluia Easter acclamation each day, your children will be ready to joyfully join in as you proclaim the reason for your celebration.

Catechesis

Easter concludes on 8 June with the feast of Pentecost. In advance of this, let’s catch this teachable moment.

Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is my comforter and guide.
The third person of the Holy Trinity.
He makes Jesus known to me
He indwells and empowers me
And stirs my heart to worship and pray.

Learn with actions

In the resurrection, new life springs forth from the grave by the power of God. We celebrate our Lord's historical, bodily resurrection as evidence that life has conquered death. The new life we see in Jesus on Easter morning has come (in part) and is coming (in full) to all who trust him. We have every reason to continue to celebrate and proclaim, “Alleluia! Christ is risen!” Sadly, we often cut short the celebration, returning to normal after just one day of Easter. We readily move on to the next or newest thing, which promises a taste of the elusive “good life”. I wonder how sustaining a full 50-day celebration of the risen Lord this Easter might provide space for us to proclaim the good news both in and out of our homes, and redirect where we seek life.

Let us renew our Easter celebration!

Kara