Easter fascinates me

First, let me state that I am what you might call ‘culturally’ Catholic, having been baptised, had my first communion and been confirmed into the Catholic Church and come from an Italian background.

However, I wouldn’t call myself ‘practising’ or a ‘believer’ in any real sense. Despite this, I have, since I was a little kid, been absolutely fascinated by the story of Easter, or holy week.

I remember every Good Friday, growing curious about what it was we were commemorating. Why did Jesus die? Who killed him? Did he really come back? To say the answers to all of these questions are disputed is a massive understatement, but one thing that is hard to deny is the enormous influence of the events in Jerusalem around 2000 years ago.

I have always been somewhat confused as to why we (arguably) celebrate Christmas with more pomp and ceremony than Easter. While Christmas features a remarkable story in its own right – a baby born of a virgin doesn’t happen every day - Easter has it all. That same baby is, in the matter of 3 days, sentenced to death for vague crimes, brutally crucified and then returns as his own flesh and blood. There is also betrayal (Judas), denial (Peter) and enough intrigue and politics to spawn a thousand spin-offs. 

I am not a historian and so do not know the answer to the question of whether the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection was indeed a pioneering one, but there is a reason we all love a redemption narrative to this day. Stories as diverse as Harry Potter and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest reflect this familiar arc, one that I found captivating, regardless of my feelings about institutional religion.

After all, there's a reason it's called the greatest story ever told.