Resurrecting

I've been in a terrible funk since Holy Week...Soooo, needless to say, "resurrecting" is taking a little longer for me this year.  {sigh}

It's been awhile since I've been this down.  

Some of it was certainly triggered by Good Friday, death anniversary, and the tragic events in my past that swirl around my spirit like a hurricane this time of year.   However, the continuation of the angst must be connected to other (unrelated) life changes and stresses.

I could certainly use *prayers*.

On an up note, the beauty of being a Catholic Christian through life's painful circumstances and emotions is that there is still Easter rejoicing.  There will always be Easter rejoicing, no matter what.
The stone was rolled away and light became a truth-teller.

I know this... 

Pain, sorrow, wounds and all, only because

Christ showed us this, Himself. 

It's a good thing, too.  

Otherwise, I'm not sure how many of us could go on.
The Resurrection sustains me.

  More than ever, I am thankful that the Resurrection is not a fleeting feeling or an emotion. 
It's a more than a single event... 
It's more than a season or a time period... 
It's a sure thing, it's a constant, and it's forever.  

 Unlike the here and now that can be consuming at times, the resurrection is freedom.
We are reminded of this in the Acts of the Apostles (5:17-26) where the angel of the Lord leads Peter and the apostles out of the darkness and confines of the prison into the morning light and freedom of the temple area.

 Though I am not good at being patient with my trials. At. all. 
The resurrection serves to remind me that my struggles are not in vain.  Without a struggle to roll back the stone, we are tempted to retract, weakened by a door that is too heavy to open.  Longing for the light, gives us strength to bear the load. 
Resurrecting might take longer than 3 days for most of us.  In fact it just might take a lifetime.  I'm ok with that, as long as I get there eventually...One Easter at a time. 

Though every sun shall spend its fire
And galaxies shall dim to shade,
The Light by whom these lights were made
Shall never flicker, never fade.

In us arise, O Light of lights.
Burn brightly in the caverned heart.
Consume the shade that fear supplies, 
And peace and truth instead impart.

Hymn from Magnificat

5 Ways To Celebrate The Meaning of Easter

For this post, I'm teaming up with a couple of lovely ladies... Jen from Forever For Always No Matter What and Laurie from Keeping It Simple and Catholic Baby Steps.  We are all sharing ways that we celebrate Easter in our homes. The links to their Easter posts are listed at the bottom.

For our family, we decided many years ago, when our oldest children were small, that we would try to make Easter a solidly faith-filled celebration.  Taking out the secular emptiness, we have done our best to fill it up with the sacred.  Drawing closer to Christ through His Passion during Lent, we rejoice in new life, on Easter. With the glory of Christ's Resurrection, the hope of eternal life is the true reason to celebrate!

Here are 5 ways to embrace the real reason for Easter...

1.  Don't put up "Easter" decorations until after Easter Sunday...
We decorate with the violet penitential colors of Lent until Easter. Then the colors of white come out!  The color white represents light, joy, and triumph. 

There are 50 days from Easter to Pentecost so plenty of time to enjoy!  For more ideas, see Liturgical Decorating~Easter White.

The beauty of being Catholic is that the children will see the same thing going on at church.  Bringing this into the home carries our beautiful faith into the world, filling the family with the life of the church, aka Domestic Church:)  

2. Stick with a holy Easter theme for Easter baskets.  These are a few photos from our years past....

This year, I'm so excited to add a very special addition...Pope Francis Holy Cards:)!!!

I like to use the symbols of Easter as much of possible, when planning for Easter baskets.  Charlotte from Waltzing Mathilda graciously compiled them (for free printing)in this beautiful Easter Symbols Booklet.  Each year, we spend time talking about the different symbols and their meanings.  This year, I'm thinking of putting together a family Easter symbol basket.  I love this idea from Jessica at Shower of Roses.  There is also a pretty (and free) Easter symbol printable over at Sanctus Simplicitus.

I have found that faith-based t-shirts are a fun Easter basket stuffer for all genders and ages...I'm doing it again this year!  I guess I'm kind of a Catholic nerd because I just love having the matching family tees:)  Got Mary was my pick last year! I have another idea brewing this year from Totally Catholic. This is my Pinterest board with other Easter basket ideas and links.  

3.  Continue the use of Easter symbols to plan your Easter food menu.  ie) Eggs for "new life" and the lamb for Christ's paschal sacrifice.  One of our family traditions is an Empty Tomb Cake...Alleluia, He is Risen! (I shared the recipe over at Catholic Cuisine:)

There are so many great ways to tie in the meaning of Easter to your meals.  Our family always seems to be traveling to the home of a grandparent or close relative.  In the past, we have made simple things that are easily transportable, like the Empty Tomb Cake or Alleluia Eggs:)

These colorful toppers are created and generously gifted to all of us by Jennifer over at Catholic Inspired.

I am always inspired by so many other amazing ideas over at Catholic Cuisine!

4.  Keep the meaning of Easter by planning a meaningful project or 2, during the 50 days of Easter.  Include some Easter reading in your plans.  

• One year, we did an 8 week Easter theme study.
• There are so many great Easter books to read during the Easter season.  One of my (personal) favorites is the Legend of the Dogwood.  I just love this book for the rich illustrations (above) and the story of the Resurrection.  Jessica also has a fabulous list at Shower of Roses.  
• This Easter Resurrection Terrarium is a project idea we shared this year.
• Other years we keep things to simple Easter Rejoicing...We can't forget to do that!

5.  Choose a special feast day that you haven't celebrated and make it a new tradition! There are many meaningful feasts to celebrate during the liturgical season of Easter.   I've linked ideas (to each of these) that have become our family traditions. 
 Divine Mercy Sunday, 
Good Shepherd Sunday, 
The Ascension of The Lord 
Pentecost. 

My hope and prayer is that this helps with some meaningful "Easter planning" out there!  Until then, Holy Week is up next.  Looking for ideas?  This post shares some fond Holy Week blessings.

Be sure to visit Jen and Laurie to check out their Easter posts!
(Jen) Forever For Always No Matter What
(Laurie)  Catholic Baby Steps

Resurrection Pots

Resurrection Pots  
Front View (Top photo); Back View (Bottom photo)

We enjoyed planting "New Life" today! 

We dug in to plant Easter grass, also using it for a combined science and faith unit.  Seeds and plants are the perfect segue to Lent as we are preparing for a new life in Christ through the glory of His ressurrection, hence the term Resurrection Pots!  We used the Resurrection analogy as we planted our Easter grass from seeds. We talked about how we are also but little seeds who yearn for the life giving water and light of Christ, just like our Easter grass needs water and light. {This also corresponds perfectly with the 3rd and 4th Sunday of Lent Gospel readings.  I didn't plan it this way, but it sure worked out nicely!} I'm making note of this to repeat for next year!

Materials:

Any size pots (I got these from the Target dollar section)

Faith stickers, Google images, or see Holy Reflections and shrink to fit (these images may bleed)

Mod Podge (to seal if paper images are used)

Potting soil

Rye grass seed (or wheat berry grass seed)

Spray bottle for misting the seeds

After pots are decorated, add soil...

Sprinkle a handful of Rye Grass seed to top of pot...

We used a measuring cup to scoop...Hope we weren't too generous with the seeds!?

Then pat down firmly...

I love projects that even a toddler can do!

The next step is to sprinkle a light amount of soil over the seeds, just enough to cover them. And the final step is to mist the seeds, soaking them thoroughly.  Directions remind us to be sure to mist the seeds each day. We placed our Resurrection pots in our kitchen window, at the foot of our Lenten cross.  This window receives abundant light. We secretly hope their position helps their growing process!

We forgot to add a little top layer of soil in this photo...oops!  We went back and did that.

Several articles claim that this is a very result oriented planting project and that grass will begin to sprout within 4-5 days and full in about 2 weeks.

These would make lovely Easter gifts for grandparents, godparents, etc.  I think they would also be great centerpieces for the Easter meal table.  This is a google image photo of what the grass is supposed to looks like when sprouted:

We are saying a little prayer that our Easter grass will sprout quickly and nicely, just in time for the Resurrection!  

Other Helpful Links for Easter Grass:

Make and Takes

DIY Easter Grass
Easter Grass by Kaboose

As mentioned in my trip up to Calvary Hill, I gave myself an assignment to re-pot a Lenten plant in memory of the late Venerable Pope John Paul II and my late husband, Chris.  They share the same death anniversary today.

The snails attacked my plant so it looks a little sad compared to a week ago.  I'm hoping that it will perk up with a little TLC and snail bait.

Soon-to-be-Saint John Paul II, please pray for us!

Update on the Resurrection Pots:
~Growth after 5-6 days~

~Growth after 9-10 days~

Fully Grown!

~Approximately 14 days~
Perfect timing for Holy Week!