Saturday, April 11, 2009

Holy Thursday and Good Friday











On Thursday we died Easter eggs, made unleavened bread, and attended Holy Thursday Mass. I don't usually die Easter eggs so early. I've traditionally done them on Holy Saturday. However the last two years it has really bothered me to see the kids all dressed up for Easter and then have multi-colored fingers to go with their nice clothes. So, I decided to do them early. It went rather well, and surprisingly they didn't get nearly as messy this year. Making the unleavened bread meant even more to me this year because I was able to attend a Passover Haggadah (seder meal) on Wednesday night. That was really insightful for me. I especially found the last psalm read at the meal very moving. It was Psalm 118. I kept thinking about all the symbolic and prophet language in it and wondered if the apostles would have been having an "aaahh-hah" moment while hearing those words. I was able to share some of those insights with the kids while making the unleavened bread and it meant so much to them.

Holy Thursday went really well until Mass, when the kids didn't behave. I know it is due to the very late Mass. We normally attend Mass at 8 am. The Holy Thursday Mass we attended was at 8 pm! What a difference 12 hours make! The baby and the three-year-old were horrible. I felt so bad for the people behind us that I even apologized to them during the sign of peace. The young lady (who appeared to be single) was very understanding. She simply smiled and said, "It gives me some practice in focusing! Don't worry about it. They are fine." I am glad she felt that way, because on the inside all I could do was offer my anger and frustration up to Jesus. I was constantly thinking of how little they were doing my will and about their outright disobedience toward me and my husband. It made me think of my own sinfulness and how frequently we ignore God's Will and just do our own thing. At one point dear hubby even took the three year old out for a spanking! That is when I made the connection to God's loving, but firm punishments that He sometimes delivers upon us all. Everything happens for a reason and we just have to accept that. It doesn't mean we don't try to change things for the better, but we have to accept that in God's Permissive Will it was allowed to happen. No matter what I did to try to make the kids behave, all my normal tricks, distractions, and even threats, didn't work for a reason. I think I was supposed to feel that deep hurt that comes from being betrayed, dishonored, and disrespected by someone we love. I am sure that is how God must feel when I commit any sin, no matter how small or big. Lesson learned, God, now help my kids behave better next time!
My prayers seemed to be answered on Good Friday, because the kids behaved so much better. I think it has a lot to do with the time of day. Our baby (or should I say toddler now) was even very calm. She even surprised me by kissing Jesus while venerating the cross. It was such a blessing to see her little lips lovingly kiss Jesus' feet. Then, in sign language she motioned the words, "thank you". I almost cried I was so proud of her.
I posted some pictures of the unusual happenings on Good Friday. Right at the hour of noon, there came a hail storm that lasted about three minutes. The kids were amazed and my oldest made the connection that it was the hour of Jesus being crucified. Later in the day, as we were about to leave to go to Good Friday services at 3pm, it suddenly got very dark and started to down pour. Again the kids made the connection that it was almost the hour of Christ's death on the cross. I told them that sometimes God used nature to remind us of His presence and awesome power. I don't think that is a lesson they will be forgetting anytime soon. I know I won't.

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