By John Kass

April 20, 2025

How it began:

When mankind became civilized, we stopped following wild herds for meat and wearing animal skins for warmth.

We planted wheat.

We had wool from sheep for our garments.

And the process of civilization, that miraculous journey from beast to man, continued.

This happened in the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia—from two Greek words meaning, literally “land between two rivers,” the Tigris and Euphrates–some 10,000 years before the birth of Christ.

It was in Iraq, Turkey and Syria. Where the wheel was invented, and before history began. It is recognized as the cradle of the world’s earliest civilizations.

You know this, if you’ve read a smattering of history or happen to like archeology, you understand that civilizations are built upon each other, layer upon layer of time.

Languages are like this too. Ideas and words and concepts are built upon each other, from language to language, from culture to culture.

With the seeds of modern agriculture planted, mankind no longer had to trail the herds to survive.

They grew wheat to make bread. They had lamb and other livestock to slow roast over coals.

The ancient Sumerians wrote this down, as did the ancient Greeks of Homer’s time. And the Iliad and the Odyssey tell of the Greeks sacrificing their fattest bulls to the gods, and fine sheep, offering the choicest thigh pieces of the young lamb and pouring wine upon the ground to recite prayers to Poseidon, the shaker of the earth. Odysseus is my patron “saint” of sorts.  The “Man of Wrath” served roast lamb to guests to demonstrate his hospitality. And being Greek myself, I was determined to follow him in this. My father had passed. And the roasting of lamb was a way to honor him.

The Jews made sacrifice, too. And one of the holiest times is Passover, when the blood of the lamb was smeared on the doors of Jewish houses, causing the angel of death to “pass over” the homes of the faithful.

The word for Passover was “Pesach” and the Greeks, who were among the first Christians, had a word for “Pesach.”

They didn’t speak English. So, they did not call it “Easter,” which speaks to the Druids and Celts. Instead, they called it “Pascha.”

And the Resurrection had another name, “Anastasi.”

There is nothing quite like sitting around the coals of a fire with lamb on the spit, your friends and family sharing wine.  Slow roasting lamb over coals is hypnotic and necessary. Basting the lamb, you’ll have to fend off relatives, friends, even your brother determined to taste just a piece of lemony, salty lamb goodness. My advice? You might need a stick.

 

 

Easter is the most Christian of holidays. And America is–despite the whining of communists, anarchists and others of the hard left–is a Christian nation. An editorial in the Washington Times expressed the heart of it:

”Drawn by the promise of religious liberty, the Colonies of the New World were deeply Christian. Even today, more than 2 out of 3 Americans identify as such, according to Gallup. Despite this, a faction of liberalism is desperate to antagonize and even eradicate Christianity.”

”Last year, President Biden mocked people of faith when he recognized on Easter Sunday the “International Transgender Day of Visibility.” His presidential proclamation threatened action against the states that stepped up to protect confused, minor children from the exploitative industry that preaches men and women are points of view, not biological facts.

“Mr. Biden wrote: “The Department of Justice has taken action to push back against extreme and un-American State laws targeting transgender youth and their families and the Department of Justice is partnering with law enforcement and community groups to combat hate and violence.”

”He then set up a phone hotline for “any LGBTQI+ young person” to call and speak to a trained propagandist who would promote these highly destructive surgical procedures. Mr. Trump’s Easter proclamation returns to the policies that wouldn’t seem out of place to George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson or James Madison.

“This Holy Week, my Administration renews its promise to defend the “Christian faith in our schools, military, workplaces, hospitals, and halls of government,” Mr. Trump wrote. “We will never waver in safeguarding the right to religious liberty, upholding the dignity of life, and protecting God in our public square.”

Has Biden asked forgiveness? I don’t expect it, but I hope he will.

Trump has never presented himself as a religious man or even a nominally Christian man. His secular style was ruthless, his public persona was purely transactional. What led to this great change in Trump? The fact that with God’s help he survived two assassination attempts? Or was it through the intercession of his wife, our First Lady Melania Trump, whose deep and abiding Roman Catholic faith is well known. Or both.

It has been a long Lenten season of fasting and prayer for many of us, beginning with Forgiveness Vespers.

“That’s what Adam and Eve never did, ask forgiveness in the Garden,” wrote my friend and former Sun-Times reporter, Father Paul Siewers at johnkassnews.com. “Giving forgiveness while seeking it becomes the first step of repentance in preparation for experiencing again the cosmic drama of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, to regain Paradise.”

But we Greek Orthodox call it Pascha, after the Hebrew word Pesach, for Passover. Our Anastasi must wait until after He enters Jerusalem, and the people welcomed Him by waving palm fronds and laying them before Him, before they scourge, crucify and disown Him. He is the Redeemer, the Son of God known to us as Jesus Christ.

Jesus was all about love and forgiveness. He loved us so much that He came to be crucified for us, to redeem us of sin, to offer us a chance at eternal life if we believe in Him. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, rising on the third day according to the scriptures. And for the next 40 days we will greet each other with Christos Anesti! and the response is Alithos Anesti! (Truly He is Risen).

Lent is not easy. It is difficult for a reason: that we might prepare our souls for the Resurrection.

For the past several years I’ve published pieces on this from Orthodox priests, from Fr. Paul Siewers writing “Lent’s Bright Sorrow,

and his Eminence Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago wrote “The Holy Season of Lent: Shedding the Callousness of the Heart”

I am no priest. But just the other day for subscribers here, I wrote a column about it also.

Why?

Because Lent isn’t an excuse for burger deals at the fast food emporium. And Easter Sunday isn’t about springtime fashions, or chocolate bunnies or peeps. It is about one thing: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior and Lord.

You know that civilizations are built one on top of the other. And I suppose that is the way of our Pascha, our Easter. Christianity was built upon Judaism. Christ was a Jewish rabbi.

So what about the meat of this feast, the lamb?

This year our sons are roasting the lamb, as they did superbly last year. It was the tastiest roast lamb of my life. This year, rain is forecast. So we’ll likely cook in the garage, the garage doors open, the Greek mountain music blaring, wild clarinets and raspy voices of the mountain songs. Nothing like wild Greek hillbilly music to charm the gentle residents of Northwest Indiana. My neighbors are Serbian Orthodox. They know.

And the family?

The family grows. When most of you first met me, the boys were toddlers. Now they’re grown men with careers of their own. And they have serious, beautiful girlfriends.

One son has given his beloved a ring. And the other son will soon do the same, we pray. It’s their time to carry on.

We’re all Americans now, and our holidays are American, in that we bring pieces of the old world with the new. The Indians at the first Thanksgiving are said to have brought trays of tasty pastitsio because the poor Pilgrims were starving because they did not know how to cook.

And because of all the twists and turns in our country, I’m calling this the Big Fat Greek Sicilian Mexican Palestinian Vietnamese Easter.

But it starts with lamb.

 

We’ll put together recipes and techniques—both ancient and modern—in future column. Why not a cookbook?

For appetizers, how about some hot Italian sausage? And grilled pita bread with a dollop or two of garlicy delicious Muthawama of Lebanon over braised rice pilaf.

And since not everyone is a meat eater, let’s make room for our vegetarian heretics with Peas and Araka.

But lamb is the star of the show. We can talk about food and feasts some other time with photos. If you have any ideas about what I should call the cookbook—I’m thinking “No Longer Fat Southside Johnny’s Moveable Feast” let me know in the comments below.

And I’m no longer fat. Really. People ask me if I’d gone on those new weight loss drugs to lose 65 pounds. No, I say, no drugs, just a heart attack, quadruple bypass and a stroke on the operating table.

Now I’m ready for lamb!!

That’s just food talk, a hunger inspired by the long Lenten fast. Lent is finished. Food is less important than the love shared around our table. It really doesn’t matter, except as a way  to please our guests  as we celebrate the greatest  holiday of the year. I keep telling people, a piece of cheese, bread, apple, would be just as good if it was to be enjoyed with family and other loved ones by the Lord’s grace.

But today is Easter Sunday, the day for roast lamb.

The lamb of God.

The paschal lamb.

Christos Anesti!!! Christ is Risen!!!

Alithos Anesti.

He is Truly Risen.

Love to all.

(Copyright 2025 John Kass)

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About the author: John Kass spent decades as a political writer and news columnist in Chicago working at a major metropolitan newspaper. He is co-host of The Chicago Way podcast. And he just loves his “No Chumbolone” hat, because johnkassnews.com is a “No Chumbolone” Zone where you can always get a cup of common sense.

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