Catholic Legos for Holy Week

Fone came upstairs out of breath with a huge sigh of relief and such excitement in his voice on Sunday morning and said, "There!  It is finished."  What you may ask??  This....

And, then a little brother (Max) saw what his big brother had made and wanted to make one himself...

And, that same kid who copied his brother, who loves to draw, drew this...

I love when our kids are thinking about these holy times and incorporate them into their play and art all on their own.

++Thank you, God!!++

A "not so perfect" end of Lent and Holy Week

Phew!  It truly is Holy Week and the end of Lent, huh?  We started this week (or rather ended last week) with me fighting severe hives and an allergic reaction and I ended up being hospitalized Saturday and Sunday evening.  I came home Monday, but am fighting symptoms still, not to mention the nasty side-effects of being on steroids.  I had a kidney stone (blasting) surgery two-and-a-half weeks ago, and it's still unsure if medication given to me from that is what triggered my body to explode like this.  I am a mystery to the doctors right now and have many follow-up appointments in the next couple weeks to try to figure things out.  I was covered from head to foot in hives (literally!) and here a two pictures of my legs to show you how beautiful they were and a picture of my sweet little visitor who came in to say "hi" and bring me good cheer.... 

sweet smiley Rose....   it was SO hard being away from her those 2 nights while I was in the hospital! 

God is so amazing and wonderful, and comes to us "in flesh" when hard times and CrAzInEsS like this hits.  My family was amazing -- helped with kids throughout the day and overnight.  My mother and sister took me to the ER after my family medical doctor shooed me out of her office and sent me there right away.  My mom even stayed the night with me the first night (like she says - "once a mother, always a mother" - thanks, Mom!  I love you!!!!).  My older sisters ran Ariel's birthday party, which had to change last minute and only include cousins.  My sister-in-law brought a meal to feed our crew, a sweet friend stopped by to visit while I was in the hospital and left food/goodies at our house, another friend made a yummy meal, and not to mention, the countless emails, phone calls, messages from all our other family and friends.  God truly made His love and presence known and made bearing this cross much lighter and easier.  Thank you, God!!!

Now, like I said, all that happened at the start of the week....  Then we were hit with many deaths as the week went on.  Two of them were sisters that our children train with and are part of our TKD family - truly heartbreaking!!  Please pray for their family - their mother just gives and gives of herself for our TKD family and is almost always present when we are there for classes.  Her girls were always bouncing around and bubbly as ever, and will truly be missed.  The other death was the husband of our local Pro-life NFP doctor, and had a tragic death as well.  And, then we also found out that a sweet friend of mine lost her brother-in-law and we lost a wonderful lady from our parish.  May God send His love and presence to all the families involved in these deaths and may the faithful departed rest in peace....

We really went "all out" last year for both Holy Thursday and Good Friday, and enjoyed our Liturgical Teas to bring such beauty and meaning to these Holy Days.  But, being on survival mode all week and still today, we had to simplify our plans quite a bit.  For Holy Thursday, we thankfully made it to Mass and our sweet baby Olivia was one of the twelve to have had her feet washed.  It was absolutely *precious*!  She totally lit up when Msgr went to wash her piggies and of course, Msgr and the two deacons were all smiles as well.  What a beautiful bonding and gracefilled moment this was.  Probably similar to the gesture of love that our new Pope Francis made when he washed the feet of two women and shocked the world on the same day.  For today (Good Friday), I made a breakfast egg "crown" (made from crescent rolls and scrambled eggs), the kids colored some pictures and we were able to pull off a very simplified version of a Good Friday Liturgical Tea for dinner.  This added some comfort and tradition to our celebrations and although was served on paper plates (again -- we are still on "survival mode"), it was still very nice. 

a breakfast egg "crown" bake

crucifixion coloring pages

crucifixion coloring pages

crown of thorns (see this link from our 2012 post for more details)

crown of thorns refried bean dip (see this link from 2012 post for more details)

Here are some more pictures that show our "not so perfect" end of Lent and Holy Week.... as you can see, we became WAY behind on our Jesus tree with the CrAzY last couple weeks.  And, not all the kids got their coloring done on our REPENT cross....

2013 Jesus tree (looks like we'll still be adding a few pieces throughout the Easter season)

our 2013 REPENT cross and calendar

Although the last couple weeks haven't gone according to *our* plans, we still give our thanks and trust to our wonderful God, because all is perfect in His eyes and He always works everything out according to His plan. 

Good Friday - 2012

 Behold the wood of the Cross,

on which hung the salvation of the world.

Good Friday is pretty much a down day at our place - very quiet, no tv, no video games/wii, etc....  All this to encourage that quiet, reflective time for the Spirit to really speak to us on what the day means. 

I started my day by working on a multi-step recipe that takes many hours to prepare - Hot Cross Buns!!  It is so worth the work and wait to enjoy a little something sweet at the end of the day.  I use the Pioneer Woman's website a lot because of the visuals she provides - I am such a visual learner!  Here's the recipe that we used of hers.  The only things we changed were....  1% milk instead of whole and left out the raisins.

At 3pm, we had our Good Friday service - the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord.  It's always very touching and moving, and I'm almost always on the verge of tears.  How blessed we are to have a Lord to completely give His life for us. 

Like yesterday, we had another "Liturgical Tea" to bring more meaning into what we celebrate at Church back into our own homes.  Here's a look at what we served and what everything symbolized....

 **The Water Bowl**

"Pilate took water and washed his hands before the crowd saying, "I am innocent of this righteous man's blood." 

(Matthew 27: 24)

**The King's Crown**

(Bean dip made from:  re-fried beans, cream cheese, Rotel tomatoes & green chiles, cheddar cheese, and garnished with tortilla chips in the shape of a crown)

"And Pilate asked Him, 'Are you the King of the Jews?' And He answered him, 'You have said so.'" 

(Mark 15: 2)

**Out of Envy**

(anything green - we chose homemade guacamole)

"[H]e perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered Him up." 

(Mark 15: 10)

**Purple Cloak**

(anything purple - we chose berry applesauce)

 "And they clothed Him in a purple cloak . . . ." 

(Mark 15: 17)

**The Crown of Thorns**

(Ritz crackers, spreadable cream cheese, pretzels)

". . . and, plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on him." 

(Mark 15: 17)

**The Seamless Garment**

(tortillas cut out in the shape of a garment and then cubed cheese for the die)

"But the tunic was without seam, woven from top to bottom; so they said to one another, 'Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.'" 

(John 19: 23-24)

 **The Two Robbers**

(Alice suggests using basil since "According to The Herb Society of America, legend has it that the Basil plant grew around the site of Christ's crucifixion. The Victorian Language of Flowers lists Basil as symbolic of both hatred and best wishes. The taunting thief and the good thief come to mind."  We didn't have any fresh basil, so like last year, we used spinach.)

And with Him they crucified two robbers, one on His right and one on His left." 

(Mark 15: 27)

**Vinegar to Drink**

(croutons dipped in red wine vinegar)

"And one ran and, filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying 'Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.'" 

(Mark 15: 36)

**The Temple Curtain**

 "And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom." 

(Mark 15: 38)

**Roman Centurion**

(A Centurion in the Roman Army would have command over 100 men, so we quartered the cherry tomatoes and counted until we reached 100 to represent the Centurion present at the crucifixion)

"And when the centurion, who stood facing Him, saw that He thus breathed His last, he said, 'Truly this man was the Son of God.'" 

(Mark 15: 39)

 **Laid in the Tomb**

(we used apple cinnamon muffins with strawberry jam inside)

"And he brought a linen shroud, and taking Him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud, and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb." 

(Mark 15:46)

Again, I am always inspired and grateful for Alice and Jessica creating and sharing their liturgical teas.  It was yet another yummy, meaningful meal to top off our Good Friday experience.

We hope and pray all of you had a wonderful, blessed Good Friday!! 

Holy Thursday - 2012

 Taste and see how good the Lord is

come, let us adore!

(Psalm 34:9)

Holy Thursday Mass is one of my favorite Masses of the whole year, even though I was out in the gathering area by the front doors with two goofey little boys most of the time tonight.  I love it all...  the incense, the washing of the feet, the presentation of the chrism, decorating the altar, best of all - the Sacrifice and Sacrament of Christ, stripping the altar, and the transfer of the Blessed Sacrament to prepare for the Good Friday.  Fone and Mario served and did a fantastic job.  I think that is one reason I'm at peace with my cRaZy goofey boys in the back, because I now know there are phases and someday they will be up on the altar serving our Lord.

After Mass, we came home to celebrate a special family meal, where all of the food that we ate symbolized some part of tonight's celebrations at Mass. Thanks to Alice and Jessica who are wonderful inspirations and share their ideas for bringing home what we celebrate in the Church.  This was our first year doing the Holy Thursday meal, and it was definitely a hit.  We our looking forward to our 2nd Good Friday dinner tomorrow!  Here are some pictures of our food items and what they symbolized....

**Costly Oil** 

(extra virgin olive oil -  we sprinkled Parmesan on the oil and dipped our "unleavened bread" in it)

 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.

(Mk. 14: 9)

 **Thirty Pieces of Silver**

(we used cheese flavored rice crackers)

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, 'What will you give me if I deliver him to you?' And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.

(Matthew  25: 14-15)

**Unleavened Bread**

(we used skinny bread that we split apart)

And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the passover lamb, his disciples said to Him, 'Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the passover?'

(Mark 14: 12)

**Mount of Olives**

(black and green olives)

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

(Mark  14: 26)

**Cock Crows Twice**

(we used Chicken wraps with cream cheese, salsa and chopped chicken and our favorite Chicken Wild Rice Soup)

 And Jesus said to him, 'Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.'

(Mark  14: 30)

**Gethsemane Figs**

(Fig Newtons)

 And they went to a place which was called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, 'Sit here, while I pray.' 

(Mark  14: 32)


**Judas' Kiss**

(green Hershey's kisses - Holy Thursday is also known as Green Thursday, so we had to work the green in!)

And when he came, he went up to him at once, and said, 'Master!' And he kissed him.
(Mark  14: 45)


**Clouds of Heaven**

(Redi-Whip to top off the Fig Newtons)

 And Jesus said, 'I am; and you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.'
(Mark  14: 62)

 
**Peter's Tears**

(Altoids mints - poor Pookey was seriously almost in tears after eating it!)

And immediately the cock crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, 'Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.' And he broke down and wept.
(Mark  14: 72)

What a fun, meaningful meal it was.  It was extra special since we were able to celebrate with one of our favorite priests on his feast day, the Institution of the Priesthood.  We are certainly looking forward to tomorrow night's Good Friday dinner.  Here are a couple other pictures from the night....