How to Have a More Meaningful Holy Week

Holy Week is upon us! While many of us may be making plans for going back to the province or getting some R&R during the holidays, let’s not forget the true reason for the break, i.e. to have some time to reflect on the passion, death and Resurrection of Jesus.

Without further ado then, here are some suggestions for a more meaningful Holy Week (please note that some of the ideas here were inspired by Kiendra Tierney’s blog Catholic All Year):

Palm Sunday

- Wear red to Mass, and explain to your kids that red reminds us of Jesus’ suffering. Point out to them that the priest at Mass is also wearing red.

- Join in the palm-waving at Mass. Once it’s done, take the palms home and display them on your family altar.

- Read Matthew 21:1-11 together as a family.

- You can also make it more fun for your kids (especially the younger ones) by having family members act out the above mentioned Bible reading: One person can be Jesus, another the donkey, then the other people will be waving palms. (To this day, my kids still remember us doing this one Palm Sunday years ago!)

Monday of Holy Week

- Make your plans for Holy Thursday. Will you be doing a Visita Iglesia? If yes, where will you go? If you can’t go around to visit churches or holy sites for one reason or another, you can do it online.

- Read John 12:1-11 together as a family.

- Pray for the people who, like Judas in the Bible passage above, pretend to care for the poor but actually have different agendas. Offer one decade of the Holy Rosary for this intention.

Tuesday of Holy Week

- Make your plans for Good Friday. Make sure that you include attending a Good Friday service for the Veneration of the Cross or, at the very least, visiting a church or Adoration chapel to spend some time in prayer.

- Read John 13:21-33, 36-38 together as a family.

- Pray for the people who, like Peter, deny Jesus and claim to not know Him. (Sometimes, those people include our own selves, and members of our family!) Offer one decade of the Holy Rosary for this intention.

Image courtesy of m_bartosch | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Wednesday of Holy Week (or “Spy Wednesday”)

- Read Matthew 26:1-16 together as a family.

- Teach your kids about how money can turn people against each other. Kiendra shares a simple activity that you can try here.

Holy Thursday

- Read Matthew 26:17-27:10 together as a family. Point out to your kids that both Peter and Judas betrayed Jesus but Peter repented and asked for forgiveness. Judas, on the other hand, fell into despair and took his own life.

Emphasize the power of repentance and forgiveness (Peter even became the first Pope!).

- Do the Visita Iglesia (in real life or virtually).

Screen shot taken from VisitaIglesia.net

- Attend the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, in which we commemorate the Institution of the Eucharist and remember Jesus’ agony and arrest.

- Have your own washing of the feet ceremony at home, and emphasize the importance of serving God and others, just as Jesus did.

- Practice fasting and abstinence, starting in the evening after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.

Good Friday

- Try to keep the day as solemn and quiet as possible, to commemorate Jesus’ suffering and death.

- Read Matthew 27:11-66 together as a family.

- Talk to your kids about the crucifixion in terms that they can relate with. Kiendra gives a great guide for this here.

- Remember that today is a day for fasting and abstinence.

- Attend a Good Friday service if you can, for the Veneration of the Cross. If you can’t, check out this page for links to Good Friday activities that you can do at home.

Holy Saturday

- Try to remember what this day is all about. In Kiendra’s words: "…this is the day Jesus' body was in the tomb, and the rest of Him was collecting His dad (Saint Joseph) and the rest of the good guys from the Limbo of the Fathers."

Image from CatechismClass.com

- Read the following verses together as a family, in relation to Jesus’ "descending to the dead".

"And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died: and he was buried in hell." -- Luke 16:22

"Now that he ascended, what is it, but because he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth." -- Ephesians 4:9

"Because Christ also died once for our sins, the just for the unjust: that he might offer us to God, being put to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit, In which also coming he preached to those spirits that were in prison: Which had been some time incredulous, when they waited for the patience of God in the days of Noe, when the ark was a building: wherein a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water." — 1 Peter 3:18-20

"And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom. And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise." -- Luke 23:42-43

- Decorate for Easter. Place a white tablecloth on your home altar, place homemade Easter “lilies” around the living room, and decorate your Easter eggs (which, in case you didn’t know, are symbolic of the Resurrection).

- You can find more ideas for Holy Saturday activities here. Alternatively, Lacy Rabideau of Catholic Icing has TONS of great resources for teaching kids about Easter (and making the whole celebration extra fun!) on her blog.

Easter Sunday

- Go to Mass. Renew your Baptismal promises. (You can also do this at home.)

- Read John 20:1-9 together as a family.

- For easy Easter celebration ideas for kids, visit my blog.

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I know that it seems like a lot to do, especially if you’re not accustomed to more meaningful Holy Week activities. Also, it might be extra challenging if you’re going to be in the province or elsewhere with extended family.

My advice is to just choose a few activities that you can do this year with your family, and build on them every year. That’s how our family does it.

Whatever you choose to do, I hope that you’ll have a very blessed Holy Week and Easter!