Easter Bunny at Mass

[slewi]

My mother-in-law told me a story she thought was funny, but had me rolling my eyes with the ridiculousness of it.

She was at mass Easter Sunday, and the priest told the congregation not to leave until they recessed out. She found this odd because he never says things like that.

They began recessing, and out of the sacristy who should appear? But the Easter Bunny, who recessed out after the priest, as the organist changed the recessional hymn to “Here comes Peter Cotton Tail”.

My mother-in-law failed to see why I wasn’t amused, as it was “nice for the kids”. Makes me sick.

Anyone else have any personal appearances by the Easter Bunny this past weekend?

 

[Brenda_V]

Aaaaa! That was just awful. How nice is it if we teach our children by example bad liturgy or irreverence in the church!

If the Parish wanted the Easter Bunny, let him be waiting outside or at the Parish Hall!

We did have an Easter Egg hunt after Mass along with pastries for everyone but no Easter Bunny!

Brenda V.

 

[lizaanne]

Write the priest and let him know you are not pleased.

I had to do the same thing this year after being subjected to a liturgical dancer during the Gospel Procession. I’ve still not heard from him, I doubt I will, but at least he knows that there are still Catholics out here who prefer their Mass un-messed around with.

~Liza

 

[Rand_Al_Thor]

Pax vobiscum!

There used to be an Easter egg hunt for the children at our old parish (before my family moved) every year. However, it was ALWAYS done after Mass and outside of the church.

In Christ,
Rand

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

That’s pretty bad. I thought the topper this year would be the colleague who googled “Catholic Christian Clipart Easter” and turned up a smiling Easter Bunny in his little blue suit, happily nailed to a cross on a hill. The Internet we can all excuse as ignorant; a priest, not nearly so.

 

[Michael038]

My mother-in-law told me a story she thought was funny, but had me rolling my eyes with the ridiculousness of it.

She was at mass Easter Sunday, and the priest told the congregation not to leave until they recessed out. She found this odd because he never says things like that.

They began recessing, and out of the sacristy who should appear? But the Easter Bunny, who recessed out after the priest, as the organist changed the recessional hymn to “Here comes Peter Cotton Tail”.

My mother-in-law failed to see why I wasn’t amused, as it was “nice for the kids”. Makes me sick.

Anyone else have any personal appearances by the Easter Bunny this past weekend?

no i have never heard of such a thing in all my years as a catholic. i’m sure the priest’s intentions were good. it does seem odd to me though.

 

[Moneo]

Ahh-h-hh hates that rabbit!

 

[homewardbound]

Ugh, how awful! The Easter Bunny has no place in Mass, or anywhere for that matter. I would never go back to a parish that did that.

Then again, my kids aren’t going to be given the option of believing in any secular thing that takes their focus away from God on His Holidays. I’m sure I’ll get yelled at by some mother someday because my kid told theirs Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny are not real.

 

[Michael038]

Ugh, how awful! The Easter Bunny has no place in Mass, or anywhere for that matter. I would never go back to a parish that did that.

Then again, my kids aren’t going to be given the option of believing in any secular thing that takes their focus away from God on His Holidays. I’m sure I’ll get yelled at by some mother someday because my kid told theirs Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny are not real.

The Easter Bunny and Santa Clause are for the kids. It is still the job for the parent to keep the focus on the holiday on the truth. As I do with my children and they know Easter is the celebration of the resurrection first and foremost, as Christmas is the birth of Jesus. We (my wife and I) educate them on these truths as we are called to do as their parents. It isnt necessary imo to take Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny away from them in order to do this, just giving my two cents here anyways.

 

[duskyjewel]

Oh, Lord. I would have gotten up and stomped right out of that church, IN FRONT of the Easter Bunny. How inappropriate!

The Easter Bunny visits our house (though she almost got caught this year by the six year old while filling baskets!) but is not part of church. That is totally separate.

Related story: My 9 year old, who is preparing for Confirmation this year, told me one of her classmates asked everyone in the class yesterday if they believe in the Easter Bunny. Some said yes, some said no. Then the kid told all the others that you HAVE to believe in the Easter Bunny, because he was the first person to see Christ after He rose from the dead! Where would a kid even get such ridiculous ideas? (Cringe…probably the parents…God help us.) I asked her if the teacher corrected the kid, but she said this discussion happened before the teacher came into the class.

When I pointed out that the Easter Bunny is not a person, my six year old son said, “Yeah, he’s just a magical rodent!” My daughter plans to tell that kid next class that he might want to go look at the Bible, where he will find out that Mary Magdalene was the first person to see the Risen Lord. (Which she told me, BTW. I couldn’t remember if it was her or one of the Apostles. )

 

[homewardbound]

The Easter Bunny and Santa Clause are for the kids. It is still the job for the parent to keep the focus on the holiday on the truth. As I do with my children and they know Easter is the celebration of the resurrection first and foremost, as Christmas is the birth of Jesus. We (my wife and I) educate them on these truths as we are called to do as their parents. It isnt necessary imo to take Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny away from them in order to do this, just giving my two cents here anyways.

Oh I agree, its fine if parents want to have their kids believe. I’m not a parent yet, and all I know is of my duty to teach my kids about God. I am very bad at lying to kids, so I just don’t think I’d be able to do it anyway. Me and my boyfriend agree we won’t lie to our kids about things like that. I just never got what was so great about letting kids believe in them in the first place. All that does is show kids, once they found out the truth, that their parents have been lying to them for years. Some parents are really crazy about keeping their kids believing in them though, I have a brother in law who believed in Santa Clause til he was 16 cause his parents went all out to make it last as long as possible! Who knows, I may change my mind when I do become a parent. Just haven’t got there yet.

 

[mommyof4]

Well, at least the Easter Bunny didn’t take up the gifts or help distribute communion.

 

[m134e5]

My mother-in-law told me a story she thought was funny, but had me rolling my eyes with the ridiculousness of it.

She was at mass Easter Sunday, and the priest told the congregation not to leave until they recessed out. She found this odd because he never says things like that.

They began recessing, and out of the sacristy who should appear? But the Easter Bunny, who recessed out after the priest, as the organist changed the recessional hymn to “Here comes Peter Cotton Tail”.

My mother-in-law failed to see why I wasn’t amused, as it was “nice for the kids”. Makes me sick.

I’m glad I don’t go there. The priest is glad I don’t go there either.

 

[slewi]

I’m glad I don’t go there. The priest is glad I don’t go there either.

Here’s my email to their pastor. If anyone else wants to send an email, lemme know! I’ll gladly give you the address!

To the Pastor

I am very concerned with something I was informed of this past weekend. My mother-in-law attended your parish’s Easter Sunday Liturgy. When she told me that the Easter Bunny came out of the sacristy and recessed out with the celebrant while the organist played “Here comes Peter Cottontail” she couldn’t understand why I wasn’t amused.

The liturgy is not about me or you, or making children smile, it’s about standing at the foot of the cross and worshipping almighty God. The Mass has distinct purposes which are either fulfilled or not: it either feeds our faith or it destroys our faith through either negligence or positively dangerous changes.

The Easter Bunny has his place I suppose, and that is outside of the church. Waiting outside the church to say hello to the children, not recessing out as if he were a part of Mass. Our Christian holidays are being attacked enough as it is without our clergy helping to further blur the distinction between secular icons and the true reason we are at Mass. Let’s keep them separate.

Christus resurrexit!

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

Well, at least the Easter Bunny didn’t take up the gifts or help distribute communion.

Yep. Somebody might have tripped his big paw.


We have the Easter Bunny. He lives in the very back of our back yard, the part the girls call “the forest” (lots of trees, branches, never enough time to go clean it or prune it). He does not wear a cute little suit. He is brown with a rather large white cottontail, but that is because, much like a chameleon, he can change colors (How do you think the eggs get dyed, other than help from other people)? He is celebrating the Resurrection, and the eggs symbolize Jesus “cracking out” of the tomb. The jelly beans are six colors because of different aspects of Easter (black=sin, white=baptism, etc.).

The jelly bean thing somebody adapted from a poem “Six Jelly Beans”. The rest they reasoned and logicked on their own.

 

[duskyjewel]

Oh I agree, its fine if parents want to have their kids believe. I’m not a parent yet, and all I know is of my duty to teach my kids about God. I am very bad at lying to kids, so I just don’t think I’d be able to do it anyway. Me and my boyfriend agree we won’t lie to our kids about things like that. I just never got what was so great about letting kids believe in them in the first place. All that does is show kids, once they found out the truth, that their parents have been lying to them for years. Some parents are really crazy about keeping their kids believing in them though, I have a brother in law who believed in Santa Clause til he was 16 cause his parents went all out to make it last as long as possible! Who knows, I may change my mind when I do become a parent. Just haven’t got there yet.

I can honestly say that, even though I held onto these “traditions” for many reasons, I wish now that I had followed my original inclination and never begun the whole mess. It makes Christmas so much harder, and I am tired of all the effort it takes to keep up the charade. I am thinking that now that Easter is over, I may tell my oldest the truth. Though I am still stuck for a long time with the next four in line (and more if they come). But I am looking forward to when they are all old enough that I don’t have to do this nonsense anymore. Which I brought on myself…

 

[slewi]

I can honestly say that, even though I held onto these “traditions” for many reasons, I wish now that I had followed my original inclination and never begun the whole mess. It makes Christmas so much harder, and I am tired of all the effort it takes to keep up the charade. I am thinking that now that Easter is over, I may tell my oldest the truth. Though I am still stuck for a long time with the next four in line (and more if they come). But I am looking forward to when they are all old enough that I don’t have to do this nonsense anymore. Which I brought on myself…

Which brings me to my next point, but it might be best to start a new thread. Just having discovered my first baby will arrive in early December, should one buck the system and not endorse belief of secular icons such as Santy Claus and the Easter Bunny?

I am leaning towards telling my children they do not exist, but are fun stories based on some factual or historical figure. At least Santa anyways…

Forgive me, but I can’t wait to get my kid hooked “A Christmas Story” however!

 

[Tedster]

Ugh, how awful! The Easter Bunny has no place in Mass, or anywhere for that matter. I would never go back to a parish that did that.

That is probably the first thought for everybody who finds this act inappropriate. But a very good priest once told me that it is our obligation to try and change what is wrong at our parishes and not to run. He said that basically we were turning our backs on all our fellow parishioners, who may be less educated in the faith, when we knowingly fail to attempt to correct a wrong.

I know it’s hard to do, but his advice seems to make perfect sense.

I’m glad the OP has written the e-mail. If we all did this every time something like this happened, Priests might not be so apt to repeat. Just my .02!

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

Which brings me to my next point, but it might be best to start a new thread. Just having discovered my first baby will arrive in early December, should one buck the system and not endorse belief of secular icons such as Santy Claus and the Easter Bunny?

I am leaning towards telling my children they do not exist, but are fun stories based on some factual or historical figure. At least Santa anyways…

Forgive me, but I can’t wait to get my kid hooked “A Christmas Story” however!

They grow up mighty quickly. It would be a shame to miss that wonder, and miss the opportunity for you to play St. Nick! And “A Christmas Story” would be a good movie that really ties in rabbits and Christmas (remember Ralphie’s jammies from his aunt?).

 

[slewi]

They grow up mighty quickly. It would be a shame to miss that wonder, and miss the opportunity for you to play St. Nick! And “A Christmas Story” would be a good movie that really ties in rabbits and Christmas (remember Ralphie’s jammies from his aunt?).

How could I forget? She went rhough all that trouble to make it!