As the novel coronavirus has swept around the world, the world has changed. Schools closed. Businesses closed. People were told to stay home unless it was essential to leave.

Before Safer-at-Home orders hit the United States, we heard about the lockdowns in Italy and China. We heard about Italians singing to each other through windows across empty streets. It was a hint at what was to come. 

Many of us in the United States are now working from home if we’re working at all. People with essential jobs are wearing face masks and gloves on a daily basis. We’re either bored, stressed out or simply wondering when life will get back to normal.

Many people have missed planned celebrations like birthday parties and weddings. High school seniors won’t get to experience the senior prom or a graduation ceremony. There has been a lot of disappointment for some.

Granted, disappointment sounds like a small price to pay for saving lives by staying home. Yet, it can be discouraging not knowing when it will be safe to return to life as normal.

We can all use some good news right about now. We can all use some encouragement. 

Easter is coming up this Sunday, and we’ve had friends consider canceling Easter, not even mentioning it to their kids, pretending it’s just another day. Not us. Easter is not canceled; it’s just going to look different. If ever we needed a reason to celebrate, it is now.

While even John Legend agrees that it’s not a good idea to attend a church service in person this Easter, you can still stream an Easter church service online. You can also make Easter extra special by live streaming a concert by Andrea Bocelli. 

 

In a statement, Bocelli said that he believes the message of hope Easter gives us is especially needed right now. 

“On the day in which we celebrate the trust in a life that triumphs, I’m honored and happy to answer ‘Sì’ to the invitation of the City and the Duomo of Milan. I believe in the strength of praying together; I believe in the Christian Easter, a universal symbol of rebirth that everyone – whether they are believers or not – truly needs right now. Thanks to music, streamed live, bringing together millions of clasped hands everywhere in the world, we will hug this wounded Earth’s pulsing heart, this wonderful international forge that is reason for Italian pride. The generous, courageous, proactive Milan and the whole of Italy will be again, and very soon, a winning model, engine of a renaissance that we all hope for. It will be a joy to witness it, in the Duomo, during the Easter celebration which evokes the mystery of birth and rebirth.”

On Easter Sunday, visit Andrea Bocelli’s YouTube channel at 10am on the west coast and 1pm on the east coast to watch Bocelli perform live from the Duomo cathedral in Milan, Italy. We honestly can’t think of a better way to celebrate Easter separately but together.

Will you be watching?