Easter is a time for family and reflection

Dubai: Easter comes every year, and for most, it seems to be a family affair or special occasion where children get to hunt for chocolate bunnies, cream eggs or baskets filled with goodies. However, there are those for whom it is still very much a celebration of the resurrection of Christ.

Gulf News asked its readers, in one-on-one interviews, what Easter means to them, and if it's still significant.

Maridette de Jesus, an Abu Dhabi-based receptionist says that she uses the day to "think of all the bad things that have happened and ask for forgiveness".

She feels the holiday is for families, and that it's not as important to her now. "It [was] more significant when [I was] young and living in the Philippines; You celebrate [it] with other people, and I am living alone now. I think I would feel more if I was with my family."

Ana O'Reilly, an executive assistant in Dubai, agrees. "Easter's all about family but I don't have my family here. It's tough."

She recounts that her family used to have a family lunch, would "set up fun stuff for the nephews and kids that were there," and that they would all go to church together.

Keeping the faith

Though it's not as significant to her now, O'Reilly says she still has faith.

"I've sort of given up religion. It's very commercial, especially in US, with all these new churches popping up trying to make money; I do have my own faith. I believe in God. I believe that there is something out there more powerful than us, [that] guides to do good and be a good person," O'Reilly explains.

Like de Jesus and O'Reilly, Lily Guna, a Fujairah-based administration supervisor, didn't give anything up for Lent. However, to her, Easter "is a time we need to celebrate".

For her, the holiday is just as important as Christmas, and Guna believes that people need to care as much about one as they do the other. "It's very significant for me ... [without Easter] there would be no Christianity. It is important to do some charity during this time of Easter because there are many people in need around us."