MIDLAND, Texas — It seems like the Easter holiday means just a little more this year. There is a lot to be thankful for, especially with COVID-19 restrictions easing up and more people getting vaccinated.
This means that in-person services at churches are resuming, and everyone is ready to be together again.
"Everybody that talks about it longs to get back together with the community and to worship together, and so this holy week gives us a new opportunity to do so," Larry J. Droll, pastor at St. Ann's Catholic Church said. "On Palm Sunday for example, over our five masses, we had over 1,200 people that gathered together, and I’m looking forward to even more on Easter."
Amy Crawford, a parishioner at St. Ann's, said now that she's able to go back to church, she doesn't take services this year for granted.
"You know, it’s amazing to be able to celebrate with our family, as last year everybody was locked down," Crawford said. "So, instead of traveling to see family and friends, we were in our homes and celebrating the resurrection of Jesus by ourselves with our intimate family. So, we got to reflect in a different way last year and then this year it’s just so much more glorious to be surrounded by your church family."
Monsignor Droll sees a reflection of Easter in the pandemic.
"I believe that we see, especially in the letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament, some reflections on Jesus' suffering and death that we can tie into as part of our experience with the coronavirus and all that we have faced over this last year," Droll said.
For Casen Crawford, Amy Crawford's son, he's just glad to be able to celebrate Jesus in person again.
"Well it’s great," Casen said. "I think Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, I’m sorry he died, but he died for our sins and I just like Jesus so much."