The other weekend, Deacon McCarroll opened his homily with some commentary on the names that the Sunday after Easter has been given over the centuries. Maybe, as he suggested, it might seem rather liturgical nerdy stuff. But the other morning, I happened to listen to a podcast where people were talking about the name of Easter itself! So, let’s take at what the names are and what they mean.

First of all, what you call Easter (and it’s not just the Sunday, but the 50 days of Easter that will end this year on June 7) depends on where you live, what language you speak. If your mother tongue was Spanish, Italian, or French, you’d call this season Pascua or Pasque—basically the same word we’d use for the Jewish feast of Passover. If your language is English, you’d say Easter—a name taken from a pagan spring deity.

What does each name tell us? Even as English speakers, we use both sources. Every day of this season, the preface tells God we’re “overcome with paschal joy.” We light the paschal candle. And, of course, we talk about Easter and celebrate spring with fresh eggs and fragrant flowers.

The Passover language for Easter reminds us of our roots. Jesus and those first disciples were Jewish, members of God’s chosen and beloved people. Easter happens when it happens because it relates to that full moon that begins the Passover. Our Eucharistic bread is unleavened because that’s the matzo of the Seder. We use wine—usually red—because that’s what fills every Passover cup.

But Easter—the pagan term—tells us about our mission. The risen Lord breathed on his apostles a task: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

At his Ascension (which we celebrate this Thursday), he sends into all the world. In that world, we’re surrounded, just as Christians of the past were, by people who don’t believe. We’re called to share our faith with them. They, too, were created for more, created for heaven.