A devotional resource for the forgotten post- Easter season. American Christians have forgotten the Easter season. We celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus on one day and then return to ordinary time. But Christ appeared over and over again for forty days in resurrected form. We cannot sustain this resurrection season because that kind of sustained joy overwhelms us. This book is designed to help us sustain Easter. “Kate Moorehead, a gifted church leader and pastor, is also a priest with a cause―reclaiming the Great Fifty Days of Easter as a vital spiritual resource. These wise and often moving daily meditations are filled with wisdom and encouragement for discovering the reality of Easter in our day-to-day lives. Here you will find windows aplenty onto a world shining in resurrection light.” ―The Reverend Dr. Samuel T. Lloyd III, former dean of Washington National Cathedral, now at Trinity Church in Boston “Kate Moorehead consistently advocates for a generous Christian orthodoxy grounded in faithful, disciplined practice and joyful living. Her books are inspirational, accessible and practical. I highly recommend her work!” ―The Right Reverend J. Scott Barker, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska “The Very Reverend Kate Moorehead has made a marvelous contribution toward recovering one of the greatest and least celebrated seasons of the Church Year; Eastertide. She has written a compelling series of meditations on the Great Fifty Days of Easter which will inspire her readers to embrace the power of the Resurrection on Easter and beyond. Kate has a wonderful way of lovingly confronting her readers with the essential truths of the Christian faith. Put this book on your reading list.” ―The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe, Vice President of the House of Bishops, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas “The Very Reverend Kate Moorehead has made a marvelous contribution toward recovering one of the greatest and least celebrated seasons of the Church Year; Eastertide. She has written a compelling series of meditations on the Great Fifty Days of Easter which will inspire her readers to embrace the power of the Resurrection on Easter and beyond. Kate has a wonderful way of lovingly confronting her readers with the essential truths of the Christian faith. Put this book on your reading list.” ―The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe, Vice President of the House of Bishops, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas KATE MOOREHEAD is Dean of St John’s Cathedral in Jacksonville Florida. She is the first female dean in the Diocese of Florida. The author of Resurrecting Easter, she is a graduate of Vassar, Yale Divinity School, and Virginia Theological Seminary. Resurrecting Easter Meditations for the Great 50 Days By Kate Moorehead Church Publishing Incorporated Copyright © 2013 Kate Moorehead All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-8192-2848-2 Contents IntroductionHOLY SATURDAY The Resurrection and the SabbathWEEK 1 MaryWEEK 2 PeterWEEK 3 The DisciplesWEEK 4 PaulWEEK 5 John of PatmosWEEK 6 James and ThomasWEEK 7 The Holy SpiritConclusion: Resurrection Moments CHAPTER 1 Week 1 Mary DAY 1 The Truth Returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other womenwith them who told this to the apostles. (Luke 24:9–10) In order to experience the miracle of resurrection, you must first face the factthat you are going to die. Mary Magdalene saw the risen Christ at the tomb. Shehad to go there, to that dark place where death lay visible for her to examine.It was in the face of death that she found life. Most Americans run away from death. We euphemistically say that someone "passedaway." We talk about our 401Ks as if we are preparing to live in retirementforever, but we do not prepare for death. Most of us seem to believe that if we avoid the subject of death, maybe deathwon't happen to us. Maybe if we use Oil of Olay and work out enough, and watchour cholesterol, then death won't come for us. When people in their eighties get cancer, many of them are shocked. They ask,"Why did God do this to me?" as if God has tricked them out of their lives. Onewoman, at eighty-nine, asked me as she lay on her deathbed why God was punishingher. "Why is God doing this to me?" she said. I tried to talk to her about the inevitability of death, that all bodies growold and die, but she did not seem to hear me. "My dear friend," I said, "didn'tyou know that the death rate is 100 percent? Our bodies were simply not designedby God to last forever. They run out of juice. Your body is old and worn-out. Itis time to talk about dying." This is the best part of my job as a priest. I get to tell the truth. I get tocome into people's homes and ask if they have thought about dying, if they loveGod, if they say their prayers, if they are ready. Often my bluntness shocksthem. Many will cry. Many will tell me that they really want to go