How baptism is a central theme on the Sundays of Pascha

In both Eastern and Western Churches, the Easter season presents a unique opportunity to focus on the gift of baptism and what it means for the life of the Christian.

For Roman Catholics, priests will often highlight the Asperges (sprinkling rite) at the beginning of Mass during the Easter season, recalling the waters of Baptism by sprinkling holy water upon the congregation.

In the East, baptism takes an even more central stage with a series of Sundays that highlight particular miracles Jesus performed or encounters he had with individuals and water.

The third Sunday after Easter is traditionally called the "Sunday of the Paralytic," and focuses on Jesus healing a paralytic man who did not receive healing from the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-9).

The Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix explains, "Icons often show the pool in the form of a cross, the design used in ancient baptismal fonts, driving home the point of the miracle’s spiritual aspect."

The fourth Sunday after Easter is called the "Sunday of the Samaritan Woman," and features Jesus' encounter of the Samaritan woman near a well (John 4:4-42).

Icons of this event similarly feature a well that looks like a baptismal font, again emphasizing how Jesus is the living water where we will find salvation.

The fifth Sunday after Easter is known as the "Sunday of the Man Born Blind," and is another encounter in the Gospel of John, where Jesus heals a man's physical blindness (John 9:1-8). Jesus instructs the man to wash in the Pool of Siloam.

Not surprisingly, icons of this encounter often have the man washing in a basin that looks like a baptismal font.

The Eparchy of Phoenix explains, "On the Sunday of the Paralytic and for the rest of the Paschal season, Sundays deal with the theme of water. At these Divine Liturgies, the newly baptized adults who had been catechumens were given further instruction in the Christian faith, and so the Sundays all deal with the symbolism of water used in Baptism."

Easter is a time when the newly baptized are ushered into the life of the Church, a special time of grace and receptivity, providing catechumens and the rest of the Church the water that leads to ultimate satisfaction.