In the midst of our beautiful celebration of Easter, we should remember that, in a way, each Mass is also Easter. On the one hand, each Mass celebrates the fullness of our faith. On the other hand, the Church has given us the gift of the Liturgical Year, a cycle of seasons and feasts, which helps us to focus in on different aspects of our faith. At Easter, we celebrate in a special way the resurrection of Christ.
But just as each Mass is Easter, each Mass is also Holy Thursday and Good Friday. Holy Thursday is rooted in the Jewish Passover celebration. When the Israelites were captives in Egypt, Pharaoh persistently refused to let them go. In response, God sent 10 plagues to overcome Pharaoh's resistance. The last plague involved the Angel of Death flying over Egypt and striking down the first born male in every household. The Israelites could escape this punishment by sacrificing and eating a lamb and smearing its blood on the doorframe of their houses. When the Angel of Death saw the blood on the doorframe, he passed over each of those homes, thereby sparing the family inside.
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Photo Credit: The Empty Tomb of Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by Zoltan Abraham (c) 2016.