Holy Week, here we go!

Palm pew fights to Easter candy hangovers...

The holiest of weeks is upon us. I'm sure that in your home as in ours, Lent was a fruitful season of deep spiritual growth and Holy Week is guaranteed to be a peaceful, prayerful entry into the most sacred mysteries of our faith.

HA.

Insert eye roll emoji here. We failed at most of what we meant to fast from in Lent, and I'm pretty sure our batting average for Triduum attendance with 4 small children will be 0.243 again this year.

But guess what? God gives grace to meet us wherever we are. Holy Week will be no different. So if you're stuck at home for Triduum, here are 8 easy ways to enter into the spirit of the celebration.

Holy Thursday
Bake bread. Easiest way to remember the Eucharist! Kids love to bake, and fresh bread smells like heaven. (Irish soda bread = no kneading, no yeast. Just turn regular milk sour with vinegar, and you've got a loaf.)

Wash feet. Pull out a kitchen bowl, fill with warm water, grab towels and the people you love. Let the simple act remind you how love serves.

Good Friday
Pick up your cross. Whatever chore you hate? Try to do it with love and without complaining. Take up a tiny cross while you remember the great one.

Stay quiet. The tradition of keeping silent from 12-3 (the hours when Jesus hung on the cross) might seem impossible with kids at home, but try turning off your phone/music/screens. Silence is God's first language.

Holy Saturday
Read stories. Easter Vigil is packed with Scripture's best-of! Fill the day with favorite stories that you and your kids love. Or sit with the readings from Mass once the sun sets. Try taking turns reading with your spouse.

Remember baptism. The Church is full of new members tonight. Pull out your kids' photo albums and reminisce about their baptisms. Bonus points for your own hot bath after the house is asleep. (You, too, are a beloved child of God!)

Easter Sunday
Feast on food. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast? Easter candy for lunch? (Headaches by dinner?) Feasting is the flip side of fasting, so let's do both well. Enjoy every bite you eat today, guilt-free. Try Resurrection Rolls with your kids!

Feast with people. Drink up the beauty of your life right now, however imperfect it may be. Let yourself behold each person in your family: try to see them with God's eyes, even for 10 seconds. You'll be amazed what you find.

A HOLY WEEK GIVEAWAY

Liturgical Press just released the latest short book I wrote for Little Rock Scripture Study: Grief: Finding Hope in Sorrow.

To celebrate, I'm giving away a 3-pack: Grief, Dashed Hopes, and Mercy. (Sounds like Triduum, doesn't it?) Learn more about each title here.

To be entered to win the set of 3 Scripture studies, pop over to the blog and leave a comment on this post about baby's 1st Holy Week: what's your favorite day of Holy Week?

I'll draw one lucky winner on Easter Monday and notify them by email.

Favorite Reads This Month:

Giving to Light: Why Lent Reminds Me of Pregnancy - "Dar a luz—to give birth in Spanish is, literally, to give light. And so I try to think of all pain and struggle not as punishment, but as the birth pangs of something new—the Lenten mortifications marking the dawn of some Easter joy." (Bearings Online)

Living in the Middle: Holy Saturday & St. Joseph - "What’s it like to live in the middle, never quite understanding the story into which you’ve been thrust, where you’ve been or where you’re going?" (Commonweal)

Till next month - blessings on your Holy Week!
Laura

P.S. My husband and I have a big announcement coming up after Easter. NO, WE ARE NOT HAVING ANOTHER BABY. But stay tuned for news of what we've been working on together...