Buona Pasqua

"Buona Pasqua" is the Italian equivalent of our Resurrection Day greeting "Happy Easter". However, it is not a literal/parallel translation. Pasqua is a direct reference to Christ as our Passover Who was sacrificed for us. When discussing the events and the implications of Christ's cross and Resurrection theologians speak in terms of the Paschal Mystery. In fact, the Italian word for the Jewish observance of Passover is Pasqua ebraica -- the Hebrew Passover. For those who embrace Jesus as Messiah, Easter becomes the Christian Passover.

So where do we get the term Easter? "The name 'Easter' derives from the Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring (Eostre or Ostara), but the Christian festival developed from the Jewish Passover (Heb. pesech, Gk. pascha), because according to the Gospels the events of Jesus' last days took place at the time of Passover." (Harper Collins Bible Dictionary)

I have no argument against the Christianization of pagan holidays or symbols like Easter, the celebration of the Christmas on December 25 or the use of an evergreen tree. In fact it speaks to the power of God to transform a pagan into a saint. When preaching Christ to the Greeks in Athens, the Apostle Paul quotes pagan poets: "In him we live and move and have our being". And this is in the context of Paul's reference to their altar dedicated "To an unknown god": What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you," he said.

It just seems unfortunate that, for the English speaking world, the raw and life changing significance of the Christian Passover is somewhat muffled behind the comparatively nebulous meaning of the term Easter ... as in Macy's After Easter Blow-out Sale.

Buona Pasqua, my friend!