I am writing this early in the morning of Easter Sunday, 2014 – in the 92nd year of my life. Easter fell late in the calendar this year. We have just passed through a severe winter, with snow depths measured among the highest in 150 years, and with more than commonly cold temperatures in thirty years. Last Thursday, we had a snowfall of about 12 inches that clung to trees and shrubs creating a fairy land of beauty, and a travel land of danger. Lateness of the snowfall caused a litany of remarks that were dungeon-like in conversations. Yesterday, I went to the church to coach my elder son in his reading of the conversion of the Apostle Paul, in words that the Apostle might have used in reciting the experience – to be included in three morning services today. On the way, I noted that the snow was nearly gone. Temperature today is predicted for 70o. I noted also in the sanctuary that extra chairs were already in place to accommodate the additional attendees appearing in church on Easter. After church we will have dinner at the home of dear friends, relatives of one of my daughters-in-law – as we have usually done in Thanksgivings past. They are gifted in the biblical concept of showing hospitality.
To give currency to my thinking, I broke off writing to listen to Sunday Morning and Face the Nation on television so to weigh my prose with reference to two excellent programs that have been maintained for many years. I took notes so as to be careful to offer faithful analysis of patterns related to the public presentation of the meaning and understanding of Easter. Sunday Morning gave its lead story to the Catholic Church, in the light of the dramatic acceptance worldwide of the newly installed Pope, who in one year has turned, in his style, to be almost totally accepted by the world population that relates to Christianity in some way. Program accent was not on the meaning of Easter, but the papal treatment of the scandals and questionable practices (perhaps some criminal) of some entrenched leadership; the positions of the church on divorce/remarriage and homosexuality; and, the popularity of the Pope relating to the people, and his influence related to the upheavals of nations. Even the reporting of his message on this Easter morning related to peace in the world, with implications related to the current conflict involving Syria, and the needs of the poor. There was virtually nothing reported about Jesus Christ and resurrection – Easter. Follow up reporting included a story of Catholic sisters who had set up their community, filled with silence and song, work and prayer, with an emphasis on their joy in the strictures of their order – a joy that one would find difficult to deny. Their musical accomplishment had put them high on the charts, surpassing the popular Mormon Tabernacle Choir – an achievement meaning little to them. The story was not really about Easter, but belongs to history of Christian thought and action – and offering life option in Christian faith. There were other stories in the program related to recovery of a fellow who lost much of his mobility through a severe stroke, recovered by his will to participate in baseball practice; Easter egg hunting and chickens as pets; review with an actor who made a film with a girl who said she died, saw angels and Jesus, and returned to tell about her experience. The actor believes she did see the vision, but would not vouch for its reality. There was also an interview with a writer of children’s books – making Easter for children.
In Face the Nation, the first guest was the New York Cardinal of the Catholic Church who responded to similar matters as those addressed in Sunday Morning, but growing along the way so that at the end of the conversation, the Cardinal did refer to Jesus and the authority of Scripture so that the point for the Church was not to find its message in what may be termed the perceived needs of people, but the message of God to be believed and practiced as eternal rescue from death. His point is basic to Christianity and applauded here. In all, the programs were favorable to the Catholic Church. No reference was made to massive numbers of non-Catholic persons and institutions, but Christian in focus and meaning. To have broadened Easter reporting would likely have drawn the focus to the meaning of Christ’s Easter resurrection for all Christians, and from them to world good news. There is omission in secular media presentations that the redemptive message of Christ, a lay persons (disciples) movement, is not reported. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020