Holy Week Happenings

Happy Holy Thursday!
It's been a quiet Holy Week thus far and I guess that's a good thing...
Except for the fact that I did have some liturgical projects and crafts planned for the kids this week...Nope, none of them happened.

I wonder if God laughs at us with all of our "big plans" some times?

Go figure, He often seems to have other plans than mine.  The weather has been so nice and sunny that the kids just wanted to play outside after school work got done...Can't argue with that!


We did do some cleaning around the house and helped clean the church for Easter.

Rod loves to head this up every year as it encourages the Youth of our parish to feel comfortable in their church and be connected to the inner workings.  The complaining that goes on around our house suddenly stops when our kids work somewhere else...Why is that?

Our Living Water Hike was the highlight of our week! (Though our local Good Friday Walk for Life will surely be a another highlight;) This hike is a glorious witness of metaphors that surround some of the meaning of Easter.
Prior to our hike, we talked about how we renew our Baptismal vows every Easter, right a long with the new candidates entering the church.  I packed a long a small bible so we could review the scripture verses that I had written down from last year.  It was a beautiful reflection and connection, certainly for this weary Mama.  Some of the younger kids don't quite get it but hopefully some of it sank in with the olders.  Regardless, they certainly saw God's hand in all of the amazing wildflowers and new life around them...It's become a tradition and we all love it:)
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Ezekiel 36: 24-28
John 4: 7-13

The metaphor of the tree with sturdy roots by the stream truly comes alive here.  Can you believe this is only 10 minutes from my house? We should be out here a lot more than once a year!
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; it's leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. ~Jeremiah 17:7-8

"For I will take you out of the nations: I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.  I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you and your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.  You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God." ~Ezekiel 36:24-28

This little muchkin carried her blankie the whole way!

"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." ~John 4:13~
Another great metaphor in view!

Dad got injured so it was a special treat to have some dear friends join us this year:) For this we were grateful.

Wishing you a very Happy Easter!
May the spring of Christ's living water fill the reservoirs of your soul and renew your spirit.

We've Come A Long Way Baby!

It is finished.

This day has passed.

Another death anniversary under our belts.

A husband parted too soon...

A Father who wasn't to be Dad for very long.

The waters of loss run deep into the well of our souls.

We live the aftermath of tragedy and remember suffering...It's what we do every Holy Week. 
We never stop missing, we never stop loving.  We are humbled by life that is fragile. Hope is real.  This is the beauty of loss.
Like the theme song of this blog, we lay our burdens down at the foot of the Cross.
He feels our pain and wipes our tears until we fly home.

We've come a long way baby...18 years under our belt.

From the dungeon of loneliness and sorrow to the hills of hope, we have ascended from the grave only by His grace.
I never would have dreamed that this sorrow would yield such a glorious new dawn.
And yet, why wouldn't it?
I know better now.

The trek to Calvary is not a choice but a necessity.

It has brought us thus far.
It will carry us to the end.
As we roll back our stone,

A brush with Divinity sets us free.

Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
~1 James 2-4~


Do not be afraid of anything that you are going to suffer.  Indeed the devil will throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will face an ordeal.  Remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
~Revelation 2:10~
"He is stretched out upon a Cross who by his word stretched out the heavens."
~St. Amphilochius of Iconium~


These have been a few of the readings in the Magnificat last week as I moved towards Chris' death anniversary, today.  They are exactly what I needed to hear as this day was extremely emotional for me.  I think it's because I'm starting to prepare my heart for this first son to go to college...We've come a long way baby!  And yet there's more heart ache to come when he moves away this summer.  I'm praying really hard for peace.  


With that being said, Holy Week is here and that means Good News awaits us at the end of the week and beyond my aching heart.  Beyond the horror, there are Hallelujah's to be hailed and heaven to be hoped for.  Like salve for our wounds, through His, Easter always arrives.

Mary Always Gets Her Way

It is a very rainy and cooooold weekend here!
Our oldest son had a swim meet and is surely a giant icicle by now...Poor guy.  I couldn't be there since we had baseball going at the same time...I hate it when a Mom can't be more than one place at a time, don't you?

Our 8yo Superboy is trying his hand at the sport of baseball for the first time and today was Opening Day...Not much of an "Opening Day" since most of it got canceled due to rain.  

However, his actual game still played and we froze our way through it and made the best of things...

Or should I say we had a little divine intervention to help us through?

Princess brought her baggy of knotted Rosaries that she is working on making for soldiers overseas, as part of our Little Flowers (Middle Girls) group.  She's also making a few extra for gifts:)

Sitting next to us was a Mom that I had made an acquaintance with.  It turns out they are a family recently coming back to the Catholic faith.  What a joy to hear about her young son who is so devoted to his prayers each night and a teenage daughter just now humbly learning hers.  

Like the model Jewish Mother that Our Lady is, she showed her face with perfect timing to lead others straight to her Son.  Shortly after Princess brought out her bag of Rosaries, the teenaged girl immediately took interest in the project!

Princess gracefully showed the girl how to make each knot of the prayers on the Rosary decades and her friend caught on quickly!

I just sat there and smiled to myself thinking about how Mary always gets her way.  We need only to introduce her to our friends and she immediately leads all of us directly to Jesus.  Just a simple and humble introduction is all she needs, nothing flashy or preachy. 

I walked away from this baseball game quite (physically) frozen but cozy warm in my soul...That same feeling I get when my little one brings me flowers.

I never cease to be amazed and grateful for moments that God shines His face upon us when we show off His Mother.  I recently had a friend tell me a story about a wonderful priest who spoke of God's first miracle...Allowing Mary to carry His divinity within her womb.  No wonder she always gets her way!

Well, Superboy lost his baseball game but he sure made a cute little Catcher:)

Praying for my husband and second son who went trekking off on a Boy Scout backpacking trip, this same rainy and cold weekend...

God bless'em!

It's times like this when our large CAV (Catholic Assault Vehicle) sure comes in handy!

Holy Week blessings as your penitential purple violet 

 is transformed to heavenly white, all through red blood that was shed by our Savior...

+Only by the stain of the Cross are we truly free+ 









I'm linking up to Moments of Grace as this day truly was!

Climbing in the Hole

The other day I was sitting in the church for my Holy Hour of Adoration and I got the feeling that I wished I could just climb right through that hole in the Monstrance and be with Jesus...Just curl up in His arms and lay my head against His most Sacred Heart.  I have no particular trauma in my life but I was just feeling beaten down and bruised from the daily grind. Do you ever feel that way?  Plus I had (Lenten) root canal #2 coming up that was stressing me out! Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament never fails to bring me just the peace I need, coupled with the yearning for Him that keeps me persevering the storms of my faith and life journey. 

Later that same day, I was out for a run (which I've recently started back up again:) and this was the picture I saw in the clouds.  Isn't it just beautiful?  It seemed like a little hole to heaven after what I had thought about earlier during my morning Adoration.  What an amazing consolation this was and I could hardly believe my eyes!  I quickly snapped a few more photos...

The stormy sky was so dark and dramatic that it added an extra brightness to the light shining through the clouds, which triggered a flood of emotions and tears, by the way!

"Thank you, Lord", was all I could manage to utter under my breath...

The hole in the clouds heavens soon faded away but joy filled the aftermath of my heart.

A few days later, I read this quote somewhere...

"Hidden God, devoutly I adore Thee, truly present beneath these veils: all my heart subdues itself before Thee, since all before Thee faints and fails."~St. Thomas Aquinas (Adoro Te Devote)

Speaking of holes, today was the dreaded day of that #2 front tooth root canal and crown, brought about from my accident right before Lent.  Lo and behold, all went perfectly fine, Praise God.  I still ache from the first one but I'm hoping that I'll soon be on a road to recovery after this one! I must say that having 2 root canals during Lent has been quite fitting. Aside from the "test" it's been since I despise dental work, the root canals have incorporated all three components of my fasting, prayer, and almsgiving!  At least this is my way of looking at it positively since those root canals have certainly brought out the wimp in me;)

And now Holy Week is nearly upon us. Thank God, the hole (tomb) at the end of Holy Week leads to the glory and hope of the resurrection. A sign in front of a nearby church, with this quote, is setting my mood!

"WHEN HE WAS ON THE CROSS, YOU WERE IN HIS HEART."

Holy Week Art Project And Easter Book

Passion of Christ Newspaper Art Scene

This is an easy and fun art project for Holy Week!  It also leads to great discussion about the Holy Cross as the instrument of glory for our salvation.

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.~1 Cor 1:18~

We got the idea from my daughter's art class using ripped up newspaper.  She originally made this piece of newspaper art.  

The whole idea got my liturgical wheels turning since it IS Lent after all;) I thought the black construction paper made the perfect back drop for Calvary.  Relaying my thoughts to Princess started her engine and she went straight to work, designing her own Passion of Christ Newspaper Art scene! 

I think this project would be good for ages 7 and up.  My daughter is 9 (4th grade).  It's a bit messy since you have to rip up a bunch of newspaper but it cleans up easily.

Supplies needed:

Black construction paper

Old newspaper

Glue stick or Rubber Cement

1. You start by making the basic shapes of the 3 Calvary Crosses by ripping out regular newspaper. (Not cutting, but ripping)

Rip pieces of the dark colored ads for Christ crucified.  

Place pieces in the shapes that you see best fitting.  Each child might have a different idea of how this might look!  It's neat to see how their imaginations and creativity play out in amazing ways...Much better than mine:)

Use various colors from the newspaper ads for the hill and the stormy sky to complete the landscape and the project.

We hung the finished project on our Lenten mantel...I love the view from a distance:)

We hope you are inspired to give it a try!

He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.~1 Pt 2:24~

I also have a quick book recommendation.  At the beginning of Lent, I mentioned the legend of the Dogwood tree in relation to the Cross that hung our Savior.  I have since found and ordered a beautiful picture book that I just love.  The rich illustrations and story tie in the message of Easter in a new and beautiful way... You won't be disappointed!

+It would be the perfect Easter basket addition or gift+

And one last quote to share... love this one!

"Worship him who was hung on the cross because of you, even if you are hanging there yourself."~St. Gregory Nazianzen~