Octave of Easter

A musical octave has eight notes; a liturgical octave lasts eight days, in this case, from Easter Sunday to Mercy Sunday. It is hard in our culture to keep a party going for eight days. We prefer "one and done." The best cultural analogues for what the Church does in its extended festivals are long weekends and (lamentably) spring break. One of my students told me that she planned to be drunk every day of spring break and that she thought it was ridiculous for me to expect her to do any homework in that condition. May we drink deeply of the new wine of Jesus' resurrection. All of His tears — and ours — are now turned to joy. Alleluia!