Most of us are back in church this Easter season, celebrating the greatest period of the liturgical year.

It’s a hopeful 50 days, even in dark times. My favorite memories include an Easter morning at St. Ignatius in Southeast Portland when sleep-deprived priests were so giddy they didn’t just sprinkle the congregation with holy water, they drenched us, and laughter overwhelmed the sanctuary. Jesus would have laughed too.

Even families who don’t typically come to Mass have traditionally come on Easter, and maybe the few weeks after, and while we hope for steadier attendance, that is OK for now since it shows a bond, however tenuous.

Let’s also celebrate the season’s dress-up tradition, which signals respect for the grand truths of Easter.

Let’s keep those dads busy before every Mass showing the kids how to polish their finest church shoes.

And here’s a vote for Jackie O-style hats in the Easter season. (Why wait for the Seminary Tea? It’s June 1 this year.)

Even church people must admit that Mass is not the most memorable part of Easter for kids (with the possible exception of some 6-year-old future seminarians?). Part of the Alleluia is also dyeing the eggs, the egg hunt and the feast, which in our family always included an apple pie or cheesecake and deviled eggs. So many deviled eggs, their whites tinged blue or orange from the dye.

What the children don’t know is how fun it is to hide the eggs — right in plain sight for the littlest ones and in the overgrown back of the yard for the big kids.

So happy Easter season! Both at church and at home — Alleluia!