People sometimes accuse me of having a strange sense
of humour. For example, I have been known to solemnly
tell a gullible person, “This year there will be no Easter
eggs.” “Why?” comes the bewildered response. “A hunter
accidentally shot the Easter Bunny … but he was
delicious.” Then it dawns on the person that Father is not
quite serious.
The Easter Bunny actually has nothing to do with Easter,
the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour. Some people
like to pontificate that the Easter Bunny is an example of a
pagan symbol incorporated into Christian culture. At one of
my earlier assignments a parishioner gave me a plush and
very cute bunny, which I sat on the counter of the rectory
kitchen. The Pastor came in and exclaimed,” Where did
that obscene thing come from?” “What are you talking
about?” I asked. “That!” he said, pointing to the bunny, “Is
a fertility symbol!” With that he stormed out of the kitchen.
An older Priest, who was sitting at the kitchen table, rolled
his eyes and said wearily, “That’s just a cuddly little Easter
Bunny.” Between the two of us we agreed the Pastor had
never been a child.
True, rabbits – or bunnies – may be seen as fertility
symbols, but so too may Easter eggs. And, what is
particularly wrong with fertility? Did not God tell Noah and
his family, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the Earth?”
(Gen.9:1). One of my great joys here at St. Catherine’s is
the great number of children. We have some very fertile
families here. (Something in the Holy Water, maybe?).
What does this have to do with Easter? Why, Life, of
course. Our Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins that we
might rise with Him to everlasting Life. Easter is the
ultimate celebration of Life. Easter eggs and Easter
Bunnies may have their origins in fertility symbols, which
would make them symbols of Life, and as such quite fitting
for Easter. And when made of chocolate or marzipan, quite
delicious too!