How is it time for Easter again already?! Time is flying faster than ever before! I wasn't at all prepared for the Lenten season this year, but allthesudden it was Ash Wednesday, and after that there was no looking back! When we initially left Ash Wednesday Mass, Juli wasn’t sure how she felt about her Hasty/Load Toner...
...but all in all, we decided it wasn't so much about the "shape" of the ashes and VERY MUCH about kicking off our Lenten journey ahead. ;) :) [But...next year I will be requesting the iPriest or OCD, just saying. HBU?]
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I feel like definitely know I say this every Easter [and Christmas], but each year gets better and better and BETTER; I am truly blown away by the big kids' spirituality and the way they just so totally love Jesus with the entirety of their little hearts. It is a wonderful blessing to experience our faith through the eyes of our children; it is a blessing I hope I never forget and NEVER ever take for granted. And! The school work that comes home during the Lent/Easter and Advent/Christmas seasons is my absolute favorite [and if our cherubs throw away the tub of schoolwork and artwork I'm lovingly saving for them through the years, at my least my heart will be pacified knowing these memories live on forever and eva' on my little diary saved to the World Wide Web for infinity and beyond]:
Then! Fish fry FriYAYs were a hit like never before this year! Cousins and friends and classmates...OH MY! Who will we bump into next?! ;) :)
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On Holy Thursday, we dyed a dozen and a half hard-boiled eggs [and btw, remind me to go for 2 dozen next year, because the masses were highly disappointed when the blank eggs ran out!]. Grandma Resa gifted us a motorized machine that spins the eggs as they're being colored; needless to say, this contraption was a HUGE HIT, and the eggs turned out adorable, too!
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After a fun session of egg dyeing/coloring, we dove head first into the Easter Triduum with Holy Thursday Mass where Scarlett got her feet washed by our parish priest...
...and then we attended the 3pm service on Good Friday. I did not write this, but want to wrap up the blog today with a post that was going around social media this year:
"He received 39 stripes because 40 was known to kill a man. They wanted him alive. They
held handfuls of his beard, and hair and pulled it out by the roots.
They wanted him alive. They kicked, punched, and spit on him for hours.
Until there wasn't a single spot on his body not covered in blood. They
wanted him alive. They shoved a crown of thorns down on his head so harshly it stuck in his skin. They wanted him alive.
After
hours of being beaten, mocked, whipped, flogged, and tortured they made
him walk with a cross. They made him carry it. A rough piece of wood
with splinters digging into fresh wounds. They wanted him alive.
They
wanted him to feel every ounce of pain they could bring. He had to feel
it in order to heal us. Crucifixion was historically one of the
cruelest most tortured deaths a human could face.
Hours upon
hours of torture. Torture most of us can not mentally think of because
the cruelty isn't normal. It isn't something our minds can comprehend.
We
celebrate Easter with pastel colors, happy children hunting eggs, and
chocolate. Truth is there was absolutely nothing happy about the day
Jesus died. It was cruel, bloody, and nasty. He could have stopped all of it.
He
could have called every angel in heaven to demolish every person
standing and shouting "Crucify Him!" He didn't. He knew in order to have
a Sunday you have to have a Friday.
On that cross he held the
rapist and murderers, the sinner and the saint. He leveled every playing
field and said ALL of you are worth it. He knew he had to carry the
cross. He never promised the cross you carry in this life would not be
heavy. His wasn't. His promise is that Sunday is coming. No matter how heavy Friday is.
Financially,
emotionally, mentally, or physically. Friday is heavy. That cross is
weighing you down and you are about to crumble under its weight. His
promise was simply this. He won't make you carry it alone. What kind of
king would step down from his throne for this?
Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God did. For you. He
did every bit of it for you and me. Oh yes it is heavy. So heavy
sometimes you do not think you can take one more step…But look up,
because Sunday is coming."
Let us join our tear-filled eyes and heavy hearts to the Lord on Friday, knowing that He loves us beyond all measure and we will never carry our burdens alone...
...because, Sunday is coming.
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