Politics Slips Into Obama Easter Worship

Reuters has an interesting story about the Obama family making a rare Sunday church appearance yesterday in Washington.
Here's an excerpt:

. . . the Obamas chose Shiloh Baptist Church — one of the oldest African-American congregations in the city, according to the White House — for their Easter service, drawing applause from members decked out in Sunday suits and fancy dresses.
The president declined the pastor’s invitation to speak, but a little bit of politics did slip in: the man who led the church in prayers, when mentioning the Obama family, said: “Lord, they’re going to need you for the next six year[s].”
Shouts of “Oh yeah” followed that intercession.

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Chinese Arrest Christians Worshiping On Easter

The French News Agency (AFP) reports that Christians have been arrested in China after trying to hold Easter services yesterday.
Here's an excerpt:

Up to 30 members of a Chinese evangelical church were arrested on Sunday for trying to hold an Easter service in defiance of the officially atheist government, a member of the clergy said.
A large number of police began to gather early Sunday in the Zhongguancun area of Beijing where the Shouwang Church had said it would hold an outdoor service to mark the holiest day of the Christian calendar.
"Between 20 and 30 followers were taken away by police," senior pastor Jin Tianming told AFP by telephone from his home, where he is under house arrest. He said there were several police officers posted outside the building.
He added that the members of the congregation who were arrested had been taken to different police stations and that none had so far been released.
Jin had said before the planned gathering that the church considered Easter an important occasion and would stick to its decision to hold a service.

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Pasqua Felice All'Intero Mondo!

Buona Pasqua, the beautiful Italian Easter greeting proclaims "Happy Easter" to all.
May your day be filled with peace, joy, la famiglia and the blessings of this season of renewal and rejoicing.
This is a day to proclaim salvation and to give thanks for our faith; regaling in the hope of eternal life, the promise of the Trinity.
In Italy, Easter remains a day that celebrates life. And no group of people celebrates life as well as the Italians.
Although Italians do not decorate hard–boiled eggs nor have chocolate bunnies or pastel marshmallow chicks, the biggest Easter displays in bars, pastry shops, supermarkets, and especially at chocolatiers are brightly wrapped uova di Pasqua—chocolate Easter eggs—in sizes that range from 10 grams (1/3 ounce) to 8 kilos (nearly 18 pounds). Most of them are made of milk chocolate in a mid–range, 10–ounce size by industrial chocolate makers.
Some producers distinguish between their chocolate eggs for children (sales numbers are a closely guarded secret, but the market for these standard quality eggs is said to be shrinking with Italy's birthrate) and expensive "adult" versions. All except the tiniest eggs contain a surprise. Grown–ups often find their eggs contain little silver picture frames or gold–dipped costume jewelry.
The very best eggs are handmade by artisans of chocolate, who offer the service of inserting a surprise supplied by the purchaser. Car keys, engagement rings, and watches are some of the high–end gifts that have been tucked into Italian chocolate eggs in Italy.
My favorite Easter treats: chocolate coconut cream eggs (sinfully sweet), chocolate covered marshmallows, jelly beans of every color and flavor, sweet Italian Easter bread, hot cross buns and Peeps. 
Buona Pasqua!

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Obama Raises Zillions -- On Holy Thursday!

At The Daily Caller, Eric Golub has a great column about Obama's day in LA yesterday, blocking traffic and raising funds for an election that's more than a year away.
Here's an excerpt:

Yesterday, while Jews were celebrating Passover and Christians were preparing for Easter, wealthy liberals on the west side of Los Angeles were busy bowing down to their deity, Barack Obama who was in town to raise money for his reelection campaign. Obama spent his time in Los Angeles worshiping himself among his followers in Beverly Hills. . . .

This is the man who came to Los Angeles on one of the holiest days of the year for Christians and shut down the entire city during rush hour. This was done so he could attend fundraisers from wealthy donors for an election that is over 18 months away.

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A Late Easter This Year?

Lent and Easter are exceptionally late this year.
Now, you may ask: compared to what?
Well, the answer is compared to the range of dates that can accommodate Easter under the Easter dating method devised by Pope Gregory XIII and his astronomers and mathematicians.
According to the Gregorian calendar Easter is always one of the 35 dates between March 22 and April 25. The canonical rule is that Easter Day is the first Sunday after the 14th day of the lunar month (the nominal full moon) that falls on or after March 21 (nominally the day of the vernal equinox). So, this year Easter is almost as late as it can be. In 2009, Easter was exceptionally early and pretty much coincided with the first day of spring. Last year, it fell on April 12 -- just about where you might expect it.
One would also expect that this would be a warmer Easter this year -- certainly warmer than 2009.
But I actually remember balmy Easters in March and chilly Easters in April. And there have even been years when it has snowed on Easter Sunday, regardless of the date.
Why is the date of Christmas fixed while the date of Easter changes each year?
That's a question for another time.

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Good Friday, In Words And Images

Antonio Ciseri's depiction of Pontius Pilate presenting a scourged Christ to the people, "Ecce homo!

                                                            O sacred head, surrounded

by crown of piercing thorn!
O bleeding head, so wounded,
reviled and put to scorn!
Our sins have marred the glory
...of thy most holy face,
yet angel hosts adore thee
and tremble as they gaze...

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Good Friday And Caravaggio's Deposition

Of all of the great paintings and representations of the events of Good Friday, none is more inspiring, more compelling or more overwhelming than Caravaggio's Deposition From The Cross.
This magnificent painting is part of the Vatican collection.
This masterpiece measures nearly 10 feet by 7 feet and it totally envelopes you with its majesty, poignancy, spirituality and deep sense of humanity.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio did not really portray the Burial or the Deposition in the traditional way, inasmuch as Christ is not shown at the moment when he is laid in the tomb, but rather when, in the presence of the holy women, he is laid by Nicodemus and John on the Anointing Stone, that is the stone with which the sepulchre will be closed. Around the body of Christ are the Virgin, Mary Magdalene, John, Nicodemus and Mary of Cleophas, who raises her arms and eyes to heaven in a gesture of high dramatic tension.
Caravaggio, who arrived in Rome in 1592, was the protagonist of a real artistic revolution regarding the way of treating subjects and the use of color and light, and was certainly the most important personage of the "realist" trend of seventeenth century painting.
If you have never seen this treasured work of art, you owe it to yourself to be in its presence.
I was, and I was transformed by it.

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Christies Welcome Special Needs Kids

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and First Lady Mary Pat Christie welcomed 300 special needs children, ages 3 - 6 years old, and their families to Drumthwacket for the annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 16. Overall, approximately 600 participants attended the festivities in the gardens of the Governor’s official residence.
“The Governor and I recognize the challenges that so many of these families face on a daily basis,” said First Lady Mary Pat Christie. “We’re delighted to open up the grounds of Drumthwacket to them for an afternoon of springtime fun.”
The children collected more than 2000 eggs, treats and other toys hidden in the gardens and enjoyed carnival games, face painting and pony rides among other activities.
The Drumthwacket Foundation and the Office of the Governor sponsored the Easter Egg Hunt.

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