Chicago church’s Easter egg hunt highlights the spiritual meaning of the celebration

CHICAGO (WGN) — In between services at Church of Saint John Cantius in West Town, little ones got their energy out hunting for Easter eggs. Church leaders say the joy that accompanies children finding the eggs ties into Easter’s significance for Christians.

“Yesterday, I celebrated. I did my confirmation, which people usually do around the ages of ten, eleven, twelve but I came back to it a little bit later,” said Fernando Salas, who attended Easter Mass with his fiancée and son. “So, like I said, this is my first time celebrating Easter to its full extent.”

Salas and his family were three among hundreds at Saint John Cantius.

In between morning services, officers with the Chicago Police Department’s 12th District Community Policing Office, who have a longstanding relationship with the church, helped run an Easter egg hunt that sent little ones on a search to capture six hundred eggs.

“So far, I got a few eggs. I wonder if there are still more eggs out there,” said Elias Jula, one of the third graders who participated in the egg hunt. “I’m pretty excited, but the Easter bunny did come to my house.”

As children enjoyed hunting for eggs, Father David Yallaly said the eggs have a deeper meaning.

“The egg itself a symbol of the Resurrection. That yoke inside looks like the rising son and so, it’s a symbol of the Resurrection,” Fr. Yallaly said. “And you consider the joy of the children on their faces when they find the hidden egg. That is representative of the joy the apostles had when they found the empty tomb.”

On this Easter Sunday, Fr. Yallaly said he hopes everyone gets to experience that kind of joy.

“There is tremendous hope in the world, if we know where to seek it, and that is to seek it in Jesus Christ,” Fr. Yallaly said.