Easter isn't a period to throng the markets looking for chickens, cattle, sheep, goats etc., to sentence to death by boiling, as it is that time of year, when we're all expected to embark on that richly rewarding journey of profound personal introspection, capable of revealing to us the true meaning of the celebration. we celebrate the all-encompassing mercy of God demonstrated for our sake upon that old rugged cross, on that hilly Golgotha Avenue, yet we're reluctant, as it seems, to free those whom we've sent to the hang man's noose, one way or the other. mercy triumphs, as it is the sure demonstration of love in it's truest sense. thus, we're called to show mercy to one another no matter what perceived wrong done to us. this we can learn from Christ, who did no wrong yet died for the wrong we'd done and wrongs we've continued to do. we give only what we have in us and not otherwise, hence may we learn, receive from Christ this period the virtue of mercy, which is love in the real sense of it. may we not just walk past through the Church's varied doors of mercy scattered in parishes across the world, but let the truth the ritual represents find a place to sink deep in us,so as to effect positive metanoia in our lives. may God bless us in the holy name of his Son Yeshua Hamashiach, amen!