perfection from every angle. This is the invitation which the Church has given us in the form of the If we have ever heard the name “Quasimodo,” we Octave and in the form of the Easter Season, (as is surely know it from the famous work of Victor also true for Christmas.) Hugo, The Hunchback of . Quasimodo is actually a sort of nickname given to, what we Unfortunately, the world in which we live call, “The Second Sunday of Easter.” But when encourages us to move on to the “next thing” all too Latin was the language of the Church’s liturgy, it quickly. Of course, much of this is driven by the was called “Quasimodo Sunday,” and this was world of retail buisness which is, in turn, driven by based upon the “introit” of that particular Mass (a the principles of economics, and the science of short song or Psalm sung as the priest approaches retail sales. the Altar): "Quasi modo geniti infantes..." This This reflection is just another attempt to tweak our roughly translates 1 Peter 2:2 “Like newborn consciousness in the direction of faith: Nothing infants, long for the spiritual milk so that, through complicated is suggested here; but only a sustained it, you may grow into salvation.” Quasimodo reflection on what Easter means for us and for you simply means “like” or “in the manner of:” and, personally. It is, after all, the ultimate horizon of again, it became like a “nickname” for this Sunday. our hope to see our lives transformed . . . to be In the Hunchback of Notre Dame, the deformed purified and to acquire bodies that are glorified and man Quasimodo gets his name because that was the set free from the burdens and threats to which they day he was discovered abandoned in the cathedral. are susceptible now.

Otherwise, when we just “move on” to the next thing, we tend to settle for much less worthy “horizons of expectation” like “the next party” or “the next holiday,” or “the next season.” In truth, we don’t really know if there will be a “next” anything: This is not a threat, but simply a reality. Moreover, a sustained reflection on the great mysteries, like Easter, is what strenghtens faith and makes it durable against whatever challenges we More to my point . . . You may not realize that we may face. have celebrated the past week as if it were one, very ______long, Easter Sunday. This eight day period is Why do we call it “Easter?” referred to as an Octave and each day within the period is regarded as equal in solemnity to Easter This is a product of our linguistic inheritance. The Sunday . . . as if it were an extension of that very modern English term Easter . . .developed from the day. We celebrate such “octaves” on Christmas and Old English word Ēastre or Ēostre. This is Easter and, in the past, there had been “octaves” generally held to have originally referred to the celebrated for certain saints and for other occasions. name of an Anglo-Saxon goddess, Ēostre, a form of the widely attested Indo-European dawn goddess, The profound meaning of Christmas and Easter (Wikipedia) It seem that the word became a generic deserves a period of extended reflection and term for Spring festivals; which, in turn, led to its appreciation. We should be struck with awe and use for the Church’s celebration of the Lord’s wonder in a way analagous to seeing a perfect Ressurection. diamond and walking around it to view it’s stunning