Preparing for Holy Week
This week is the week leading up to Holy Week (Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday, which is Mar. 25th this year). And there is so much to say about ways to celebrate this important time in the home. So much. I am going to do my very best not to get carried away with ideas and resources and activities, but I promise nothing :) I hope you have time to plan and purchase what you need for your own Holy Week activities!
The first think I want to acknowledge is that Easter just isn't that big of deal for most of us. For most people I know, Easter is about as important as Mother's Day or a family birthday. It's basically a day that we will spend with family eating the traditional ham and binging on the kids' Easter candy behind their unknowing little backs. Meanwhile, much of the Christian significance gets lost. And it certainly doesn't help that the figure of central importance in this holiday is a friendly, fluffy, (supposedly) benevolent bunny who leaves our children more candy than their tiny systems can possibly process, leading to sugarbuzz-induced injuries, puking, and endless battles over how much candy can be had in the days following Easter. It's hard to make the mental and spiritual transition from a cute and fluffy bunny to a bloodied man wearing only his underwear and a crown of thorns, suffering in agony on a cross.
So how do we make something of Holy Week? How do we help restore Easter to its rightful role as the most important Christian holiday of the year? (And really, this is the high point of the Christian year. Christmas is a very big deal, but only because Jesus grows up and accomplishes something of cosmic significance in his death and resurrection!)
The first thing that we try our best to do is to slow our schedules down as much as humanly possible. This is especially true for Thursday evening (Maundy Thursday) through Easter Sunday. My guideline is to eliminate all non-essentials. Dominic does have extra services during Holy Week, so he's always busy preparing, but he tries to move work responsibilities that aren't core to Holy Week to the week prior to Holy Week or after Easter. Our kids are little and aren't in extracurriculars yet, which means we haven't get had to decide whether or not to pull them out of activities. But our goal is to do whatever we can to carve out time during Holy Week, especially starting Thursday night, to really take in what it is we are celebrating.
We will also treat each day of Holy Week as a fast day (for more on how we practice fasting as a family, especially with one pregnant mamma and two little ones, see my earlier post on fasting). Basically this means no sweets and all vegetarian foods. If a whole week seems too much, you could just practice some sort of fast on Good Friday and optionally also on Holy Saturday.
The goal in slowing down our schedules and bodies is to allow time for our hearts and minds to settle down long enough that we can turn our attention to the mysteries of the events of Holy Week.
And there is much to grieve during this week: our own sin and its ruinous effects in our lives and the lives of others; the sorrows of our friends and families and church communities, for whom the effects of this broken world are all too real this year; the great suffering in our world, both domestic and international. Reading some of the penitential psalms is especially fruitful during this week, and praying for others who are sick or sad or lonely is another good use of prayer time (see my earlier post on prayer during Lent for ideas and resources.) During Holy Week, when we focus our thoughts and prayers on the sin and sorrow in the world, our hearts are prepared to understand more profoundly the weight of what Christ suffered on the cross, and the victory that he accomplished in his resurrection.
Along with this, we also spend time contemplating Christ's anguish as he endured the last days of his life. This is a great time to read the Songs of the Suffering Servant from Isaiah (Isa. 42:1-7; 49:1-6; 50:4-9a; 52:13-53:12). It's also a good time to read the Gospel writers' accounts of the events of Holy Week, whether straight from the Bible, from a children's Bible, or from books that retell these stories. We also like to make crafts that help us focus even more on the details of Holy Week. You might even move your plants and flowers to another part of the house where you won't be able to enjoy these signs of life as you contemplate Christ's suffering and death. (I have a grow light in my basement, so all my garden seedlings and house plants will be moved down there for the week.)
I wish I had time to go into each of the resources I am listing here and why I love each and every one, but I hope my (somewhat) brief notes will provide enough to catch your interest!
Holy Week Books
Peter's First Easter by Walter Wangerin, illustrated by Tim Ladwig
This book tells the story of Holy Week from Peter's perspective, beginning with the Last Supper and continuing through Peter's reinstatement after the resurrection. If you know anything about how Peter is portrayed in the Gospels, you'll know that he is deeply emotional and rather brash, and this is captured extremely well in this book. Peter talks over and over about his love and affection for Jesus, he reacts with horror at some of the things Jesus says, he sobs facedown in an alley after he betrays Jesus for the third time. And the illustrations capture the intensity of his emotions very well—his surprise, his laughter, and his tears welling up in his eyes. In this book, we experience Peter's deeply human and intensely personal encounter with the events of Holy Week and with the person of Jesus. I suppose the hope is that, in reading this book, this encounter with Christ will be personal for us as well. The book has ten chapters, and each is long enough that you can really read just one chapter at a time. (You might have to abbreviate each chapter if your kids are younger than preschool-aged; and even though this is a picture book, the story and illustrations have a lot to digest, so older kids will still benefit from reading one chapter at a time).
At Jerusalem's Gate by Nikki Grimes, with woodcuts by David Frampton
I can't say enough about this beautiful collection of twenty-two poems (each accompanied by a gorgeous woodcut) and how perfect it is for Holy Week—and for people of all ages. And I won't say much more than this, because I am not a poet, so I could never do this book justice. But I consider this a must-have for home libraries! All I will say is that Grimes's poems explore various aspects of the Holy Week narratives that gave her pause or made her wonder. She asks a lot of questions about details of the stories we probably hadn't considered, and she gets inside the hearts and minds of the people involved in the stories.
Unfortunately, I believe this book is out of print, but there are still plenty of (new and used) copies available on Amazon. For a fuller discussion (and some cautions about two particular poems being a bit too troubling for very little ones), see this excellent review from Aslan's Library.
And here is one of my favorite poems in this collection, in which Joseph of Arimathea buries Jesus' body in the short time he has before Sabbath falls, and without breaking the laws of Sabbath, which prohibit doing work—including the task of preparing the dead for burial:
Christ crucified lay limp
as any son undone
by beating, cross, and spear,
a Pharisee the one
to bear him to a place
of rough rock and rest.
Perhaps—this God knows best—
he swabbed away Christ's blood
with tears, the only bath
the Sabbath would allow.
Perhaps he chose instead
to kiss the Master's brow
and whisper his goodbye.
Perhaps he merely wept,
while tired muscles strained
to roll the stone in place
and soldiers sealed it tight
to inch by inch lock out
the air, hope, light.
-"An Act of Kindness" by Nikki Grimes
Holy Week Crafts and Activities
I REALLY wish I could say more about these crafts and activities, but time and space simply won't allow it. I am going to try very hard to pull together a model of Jerusalem using some foam poster board or duplos or maybe just cardboard, but if I don't get to it, there's always next year!
Make these Resurrection Eggs and retell the narratives of Holy Week as you open each egg. See also these two books that tell the story of Resurrection Eggs: Benjamin's Box: The Story of the Resurrection Eggs and Lily's Easter Party.
Build Jerusalem out of blocks to help you retell the stories with a three-dimensional "map."
 |
| The "Jos-e-bunny," as she calls herself (along with a new bouncy ball that she's currently obsessing over) |
So how do we make something of Holy Week? How do we help restore Easter to its rightful role as the most important Christian holiday of the year? (And really, this is the high point of the Christian year. Christmas is a very big deal, but only because Jesus grows up and accomplishes something of cosmic significance in his death and resurrection!)
 |
| Our calendar for Holy Week, with only one item scheduled (Tuesday morning routine OB appointment for me! I have also marked the start of Passover on Friday the 30th so I don't forget to wish my Jewish friends a happy feast.) Oh, and using a liturgical calendar takes some getting used to, but we love our Christian Seasons Calendar from University Hill Congregation in Vancouver, CA. |
We will also treat each day of Holy Week as a fast day (for more on how we practice fasting as a family, especially with one pregnant mamma and two little ones, see my earlier post on fasting). Basically this means no sweets and all vegetarian foods. If a whole week seems too much, you could just practice some sort of fast on Good Friday and optionally also on Holy Saturday.
The goal in slowing down our schedules and bodies is to allow time for our hearts and minds to settle down long enough that we can turn our attention to the mysteries of the events of Holy Week.
And there is much to grieve during this week: our own sin and its ruinous effects in our lives and the lives of others; the sorrows of our friends and families and church communities, for whom the effects of this broken world are all too real this year; the great suffering in our world, both domestic and international. Reading some of the penitential psalms is especially fruitful during this week, and praying for others who are sick or sad or lonely is another good use of prayer time (see my earlier post on prayer during Lent for ideas and resources.) During Holy Week, when we focus our thoughts and prayers on the sin and sorrow in the world, our hearts are prepared to understand more profoundly the weight of what Christ suffered on the cross, and the victory that he accomplished in his resurrection.
 |
| The sight of little seedlings brings me such joy. When I look at them, I see the promise of warmer days, the delight of having my hands in the dirt, and the satisfaction of eating food grown in my own backyard. And I look at them more times than I can count in a given day. I will miss them dearly during Holy Week! |
I wish I had time to go into each of the resources I am listing here and why I love each and every one, but I hope my (somewhat) brief notes will provide enough to catch your interest!
Holy Week Books
Peter's First Easter by Walter Wangerin, illustrated by Tim Ladwig
At Jerusalem's Gate by Nikki Grimes, with woodcuts by David FramptonI can't say enough about this beautiful collection of twenty-two poems (each accompanied by a gorgeous woodcut) and how perfect it is for Holy Week—and for people of all ages. And I won't say much more than this, because I am not a poet, so I could never do this book justice. But I consider this a must-have for home libraries! All I will say is that Grimes's poems explore various aspects of the Holy Week narratives that gave her pause or made her wonder. She asks a lot of questions about details of the stories we probably hadn't considered, and she gets inside the hearts and minds of the people involved in the stories.
Unfortunately, I believe this book is out of print, but there are still plenty of (new and used) copies available on Amazon. For a fuller discussion (and some cautions about two particular poems being a bit too troubling for very little ones), see this excellent review from Aslan's Library.
And here is one of my favorite poems in this collection, in which Joseph of Arimathea buries Jesus' body in the short time he has before Sabbath falls, and without breaking the laws of Sabbath, which prohibit doing work—including the task of preparing the dead for burial:
Christ crucified lay limpas any son undone
by beating, cross, and spear,
a Pharisee the one
to bear him to a place
of rough rock and rest.
Perhaps—this God knows best—
he swabbed away Christ's blood
with tears, the only bath
the Sabbath would allow.
Perhaps he chose instead
to kiss the Master's brow
and whisper his goodbye.
Perhaps he merely wept,
while tired muscles strained
to roll the stone in place
and soldiers sealed it tight
to inch by inch lock out
the air, hope, light.
-"An Act of Kindness" by Nikki Grimes
Holy Week Crafts and Activities
I REALLY wish I could say more about these crafts and activities, but time and space simply won't allow it. I am going to try very hard to pull together a model of Jerusalem using some foam poster board or duplos or maybe just cardboard, but if I don't get to it, there's always next year!
Make these Resurrection Eggs and retell the narratives of Holy Week as you open each egg. See also these two books that tell the story of Resurrection Eggs: Benjamin's Box: The Story of the Resurrection Eggs and Lily's Easter Party.
Build Jerusalem out of blocks to help you retell the stories with a three-dimensional "map."
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