Day 33. Fifth Sunday of Lent: March 25 Today I will create The Eleventh Station of the Cross. Create a collage or piece of art that shows Jesus’ body being nailed to the cross. This must have hurt! As I create this station, I will remember that whenever I am in pain and hurting, Jesus knows how I am feeling because he has felt that way too. I will hang this station in my house as the eleventh of fourteen. I will also give another family member a comforting massage or foot rub!
Day 34. Monday March 26 Tonight I will ask my family to gather in a quiet circle. We will light a candle and turn out the lamps. We will sit together in silence for one whole minute and think about people for whom we want to pray. We will share their names with each other, and then we will be quiet for another whole minute while we silently pray for God to watch over the people we have named.
Day 35. Tuesday March 27 Today I will create a beautiful top-secret anonymous “Jesus loves you” card for a neighbor. I will sneak over to their house and leave it at their front door!
Day 36. Wednesday March 28 Today I will create The Twelfth Station of the Cross. Create a collage or piece of art that shows that Jesus has died. As I create this station, I will think about the people or pets I love who have died and even though I miss them I will smile, knowing that they are with Jesus. I will hang this station in my house as the twelfth of fourteen.
Day 37. Thursday March 29 Tonight I will ask my family to gather before dinner and talk about what we wish we had done better or differently today or this week. As we eat dinner we will ask God to nourish not only our bodies but our hearts too, so they become better at doing right and kind things!
Day 38. Friday March 30 Tonight my Lenten practice will involve washable markers again (!). I will write today’s mistakes on my arms or legs and then I will wash them away with a white washcloth. This will help me remember that by dying on the cross, Jesus made it so that all my mistakes and all my sins—yesterday, today, and a million tomorrows—wash away into nothing in the eyes of God.
Day 39. Saturday March 31 Today I will help a parent bake pretzels, which originated as early Christian Lenten treats. The shape of the pretzel was meant to represent our arms crossed in prayer.
Day 40! Palm/Passion Sunday— April 1
Today Lent ends and Holy Week begins! I will create an altar in my home using palm branches from church. I will add candles and flowers and a mirror to remind me that Jesus loves ME, just as I am—the good parts of me as well as the not-so-good parts. It is because he loves me that he set out on this journey to Jerusalem, where his life will end in suffering and death. For Jesus, I am worth any sacrifice. Whenever I pass by my altar I will stop and tell Jesus, “thank you.”
Holy Monday April 2 Today I will create The Thirteenth Station of the Cross. Create a collage or piece of art that shows Jesus’ enemies walking away and his friends lovingly taking his body down from the cross and preparing it for burial. As I create this station, I will think about the loving things we do for people who are our friends. I will hang this station in my house as the thirteenth of fourteen. I will try to be a good and loving friend to someone today.
Holy Tuesday April 3 Today I will think about this verse from Matthew: Jesus said, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” By “least” Jesus meant the people or animals we often forget because we think them unimportant. Today I will take pet treats to the animal shelter for the animals there; or I will take cookies or fruit to people at a local retirement or nursing home, because too often they are forgotten by the rest of the world.
Holy Wednesday April 4 Today I will create and hang the fourteenth and last station of the cross. Create a collage or piece of art that shows Jesus’ friends anointing his body and laying it in the tomb (a cave in the rocks). I will invite my family to walk around the fourteen art stations I have created and talk about each one.
Maundy Thursday April 5 Today I will learn that “Maundy” comes from Latin and it means “mandate” or “commandment.” The commandment Jesus gave us on this day was to remember him and talk about him whenever we eat and drink. Tonight at dinner we will have bread and red wine in addition to our regular dinner. Together we will take them in our hands, ask God to bless them, break/pour them apart/out, and then share them with each other.
Good Friday April 6 Today I will talk with my family about endings. I know that books end when the last page is read. The day ends when the last light sinks below the hills. Life ends when people take their last breaths. I will take down my fourteen art stations of the cross because their time is also at an end. My parents can help me burn them or we can roll them up and bury them in the yard, or we can simply put them away and not look at them again. Endings are sad, but as I learned when we talked about seeds and flowers, endings also make room for new beginnings.
Holy Saturday: The Great Vigil of Easter April 7
Today I will prepare to celebrate! I will create an Easter basket for a neighbor, a stranger, or an elderly shut-in. I will learn that 500 years ago, people were forbidden to eat eggs during Lent. So, when Easter came, everyone enjoyed eating eggs! We color and decorate them with joy because eggs are symbols of new life.
Easter Sunday!! April 8 Today I will shimmy-shake and dance and sing. I will throw my arms in the air and leap like a deer and shout for joy. Why? Because I know that even though bad things will occasionally happen to me, I will make it through hard times, because God is powerful, God loves ME, and—even though it may not seem like it at the time—I know that good will always win over evil and death.
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