“And therefore in the Christian celebration of Easter quite particularly an affirmation of the whole of existence is experienced and celebrated. No more rightful, more comprehensive and fundamental an affirmation can be conceived.” Josef Pieper, In Tune with the World: A Theory of Festivity

If it really happened—that Christ rose from the dead—then my life should look different than it does. Period. A less daunting thought is this: the week in which we celebrate Easter ought to look different than it does. I am defined by what and how I remember. This week should be deeply marked by memory. Such memory does not live in the past; it makes the present come alive, in the truth of what really happened.

Please see my article today at Aleteia, Feeling Easter: We Need the Easter Festivity We are Missing.

Josef Pieper (1904-1997) was a German philosopher in the tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas. Many of his works have been translated into English and are still in print, including Leisure the Basis of Culture, Happiness and Contemplation, The Silence of St. Thomas, and The Four Cardinal Virtues, to name just a few.

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