Catholic News Service

Responding to editors' requests for a regular sampling of current commentary from around the Catholic press, here is a column titled "The joy of Easter need not pale before the joy of Christmas," which appeared in the March 27 issue of The Catholic Exponent, newspaper of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio. It was written by Pete Sheehan, editor and general manager.

There is often that debate about what is the bigger holiday -- Christmas or Easter.

For popularity, it's no contest. Christmas is so popular that it's sometimes unpopular -- entering our consciousness as early as September and becoming dominant into November and December. Movies and TV specials as well as classic TV episodes and Christmas music flood the airwaves.

At Easter time, you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a top 10 list of Easter specials, movies, or songs. Now, there are a number of good-intentioned movies about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus -- some succeeding better than others. Still, I don't think that any of them are awaited like "It's a Wonderful Life" or "A Christmas Carol." Interestingly, I seldom hear of controversy over celebrating -- or even mentioning -- Easter as I do with Christmas.

For the church officially, Easter is the primary feast because Jesus' resurrection is of even greater significance than his birth. Of course, you get some people who make the argument that you couldn't have Easter without Christmas so Christmas is more important. That, however, would be like arguing that married couples should celebrate the anniversary of their engagement as much or more than their wedding. Alas, many husbands already have enough trouble remembering one anniversary.

I know of one priest who called for the same joy and excitement at Easter that we have at Christmas. The strains of Handel's "Messiah" should be played as freely at Easter, he argued. In fact, the full version of "Messiah" encompasses Easter and includes the second coming of Christ, for which the "Hallelujah Chorus" was written. Still the "Hallelujah Chorus" is heard widely at Christmas but seldom at Easter.

Much of the disparity has more to do with psychology than theology.

First of all, Christmas comes at the beginning of winter. Unless you're into winter sports like skiing, sledding and ice-skating, Christmas might be the only thing you like about winter. So, we focus on it. Christmas also has a way of encompassing and positively accentuating various aspects of winter.

Some people like snow, some don't -- especially the past two winters -- but almost everyone is happy with a white Christmas.

Easter comes in the spring, and though the weather varies, there is usually more to distract us than there is at Christmas. The seasonal darkness around Dec. 25, which some scholars contend has something to do with when Christmas is celebrated, offers a better opportunity to enjoy Yuletide lights.

Plus the celebration itself is more festive. Chocolate eggs and bunnies are nice, but they don't hold a candle to Christmas presents. Santa Claus vs. the Easter Bunny? Not even close.

Yet there are liturgical and theological reasons as well. We think of Christmas in terms of pure joy, even though the story of Christmas includes its share of hardship, which we tend to romanticize. Christmas is a mystery, but it expresses something profound about God's love in a way that hits home.

To get to Easter, we have to go through Lent, which is not celebrated in the same severe manner as in the past, but it is still more of a challenge than Advent. Too often Advent becomes an early celebration of Christmas rather than a preparation or anticipation. And, of course, we have to go through Good Friday, which is sobering if we take it seriously.

The birth of Christ is a wonderful, wondrous sign of God's love for us. Through Jesus' death and resurrection, however, we can see more fully the depth of that love. When Easter arrives, the challenge is in some ways deeper. Rather than God coming to us as he does at Christmas, the risen Christ is calling us to him. Easter has a more otherworldly aspect to it, calling us to transcend but also to transform the world. We are left with an empty tomb rather than a crowded stable. Soon after Easter, Jesus ascends -- still present yet paradoxically removed and pleading for us in heaven before the Father.

The birth and life of Jesus gets our attention. The Crucifixion and Resurrection challenges us, through the grace of the Resurrection, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the fellowship of the church here on earth, to respond.

I love the Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox tradition of greeting one another at Easter with "Christ has risen." Let us all ponder what that means and respond with the joy worthy of Christmas.

"Indeed. He has."

The views or positions presented in this or any guest editorial are those of the individual publication and do not necessarily represent the views of Catholic News Service or of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.