Easter Sunday

EASTER SUNDAY      

I hid Mia’s Easter basket (which has always been our tradition) and Paul and I hid each other’s. Mia had a wide assortment of traditional Easter candy which I brought from home, not leaving such an important detail to chance in Doha.  I also had a large, very fluffy stuffed rabbit puppet in the basket. Mia seemed especially thrilled with the rabbit since she has always been partial to stuffed animals. I made a special Easter breakfast of strawberry-ricotta cheese crepes that both Paul and Mia appreciated.  We then spent the day relaxing at the pool,                      

                                                                            

Once again, the devotion of the people impresses me. The single road to the Catholic Church was backed up bumper to bumper for miles, and the streets leading to that one road were also jammed with cars heading toward the road. The Qatari Police were redirecting traffic and also navigating parking at the church.  This was a great courtesy of the authorities here, to care for the well-being of the Christina population on their way to their place of worship on their most sacred day of the year.

At the Church, there was no parking allowed in the parking lot so that there would be a large empty area around the church.   At the door of the church, we had to go through metal detectors and a hand search (men and women in separate lines of course, and women only searched by women). (All of this was for security purposes.) Since the main church was standing room only, mainly Indians and Filipinos in attendance, we ventured around the side and discovered a small chapel where mass was being said in Italian!! I felt this was a special Pascal treat for me since I love Italy so much and am so at home among Italians. There were about thirty people present.  During the handshake of peace, in true Italian form, unlike the mass on Palm Sunday, everyone shook hands and hugged and kissed. The priest was from Italy—I’m not quite sure how the congregation managed to get him to be there for Easter---and very friendly as he shook hands with each member of the congregation during the handshake of peace. There were some other English-speaking people there. After mass, we went home.

Needless to say, Easter lacked the excitement of a large family gathering and an egg hunt, and for Mia, often celebrated along with her birthday. Easter has also been the beginning of spring, and the days leading up to it, solemn and full of reflection.  Celebrating Easter in a Muslim country certainly changes the emotions of the feast. But, does it change the reality of the Easter mystery? After all, in the Middle East, we are much closer to Jerusalem. We are in the desert, just as Jesus was in a desert during lent. We do actually see camels periodically in the desert, near the road, and many people are dressed as people dressed when Jesus was on the earth. Maybe, from a cultural point of view, we are closer to the first Easter that we were back in America.