It seems like our thoughts turn to Easter shortly after Valentine’s Day.

The stores start putting out chocolate bunny displays and the Cadbury people begin filling our heads with visions of sugary delights midway through February as the biggest holiday of the spring is still over a month away.

While the celebrations surrounding the holiday, including egg hunts and coloring should be part of every child’s Easter, it’s important to remember why we celebrate.

This year that reminder has been a little closer to our minds with the massive success of &uot;The Passion.&uot; The movie chronicles the final days of Jesus’ life in disturbing detail.

It’s played to rave reviews and made millions of dollars. The overall success of the movie is just a small indicator of the devotion Jesus earned in his life and death.

Over two millennia later, we celebrate his birth on Christmas, his death on Good Friday and the resurrection on Easter Sunday.

It’s that life that we strive to remember today.

Often people complain about the commercial aspects of our religious holidays, that the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus steal the spotlight.

But the important thing to remember is that one does not exclude the other.

It is possible to celebrate Easter religiously while enjoying the trappings that we’ve surrounded the holiday with over the years.

The best celebrations of Easter include both the fun and the religious. A perfect Easter Sunday could be a sunrise service followed by a Easter Egg Hunt on a sunny afternoon, the perfect combination of celebration and remembrance.

But however you choose to celebrate Easter the STJ would like to pass on our best holiday wishes.

Happy Easter!