Easter Calendars and the Environment

REEP is "a registered charity which provides unusual and thought-provoking resources for teachers and learners promoting the links between religions and the environment." Each year since 2001, the Web site of REEP has been posting a new Easter section. All of these are still available online. Below is a brief description of each of these calendars:

2001 - The Easter Garden: Background notes on the history of Christian symbolism associated with various plants, flowers and trees.

2002 - The Green Man: "We use the image of the Green Man here as an image of the life of the natural world - and the fact that this life has a place within the church."

2003 - An Easter Calendar: By clicking on the panels of a mosaic depicting Jesus on the cross and various symbols, children (8-12) can discover the events that took place during Holy Week. Children can also test their knowledge of these events by doing a fun interactive quiz. This calendar was originally put online in 2003 but its content is not time sensitive and can still be used today.

2004 - My Camino: "In the summer of 2003, five young people from Hungary set out to walk the 500 mile trek that is known as the Camino de Santiago de Compostela..." István Lengyel was one of the participants. "This is an extract from his personal account of the journey which records both the outer and inner experiences of the group and the other pilgrims they met on the way."

2005 - An Easter Walk In The Country:

...a performance of JMC Crum’s Easter hymn ‘Now the Green Blade Rises’, performed by the choir of Welford and Wickham School in West Berkshire – REEP’s official choir! – and graphics by Charlotte Hardy.

Now the Green Blade Rises’ celebrates the hope of new life and uses imagery from nature, reflecting this year’s theme of the relationship between Christianity and the natural world. The Garden itself is a kind of ‘virtual’ walk though an Easter landscape. You can travel and listen to the song, discovering images, ideas and reflections related to our theme.

2006 - An Easter Hare Hunt: "In many people’s minds Easter is the season of Easter Bunnies and Easter Eggs. This year’s Culham/REEP Easter calendar offers a variation on the theme - hares and cosmic circles!"

2007 - Eggs and Birds:

...our Easter calendar features twenty eggs of British birds – and none of them are made of chocolate. Click on each egg to find an idea or a fact that might intrigue or amuse you. Maybe one or two of them might suggest something that could be used in a Collective Worship. As in previous years, the Easter calendar celebrates new life and God’s love for all creation.

The 2008 edition is not yet online, but I assume it should be available online soon at http://www.reep.org/resources/easter/2007/

For additional resources on the Catholic Church and the environment: Environmental Justice - Resources for Catholic Educators