Holy Week Basket

Fill your basket

With Holy Week around the corner, here's an idea for your family that will help make Holy Week a special week: Holy Week baskets!  Bust out the fake green grass a little early and scrounge up your Spring-colored plastic Easter eggs: we're repurposing them in a non-candy way.

Put the green plasticy grass in the basket, and place the basket in a prominent place in your house.  Inside the eggs, place slips of paper with different actions or ideas for keeping Holy Week.  For ideas, check out the description of a classroom version of this activity.  Here are some that are St. Mark specific:

• Attend the Palm Sunday parish penance service (at 7:00PM on Palm Sunday)
• Donate a household item for those who cannot afford it (see bulletin for details)
• Attend a Holy Week service at St. Mark

What other ideas could you include in your Holy Week basket?

Image credit: tracitodd on flickr

Palm Sunday Video

Here's a video (not intended for children) about Palm Sunday.  How do we approach the only Sunday Gospel of the year where we, the assembly, have speaking parts?



Do I just go through the motions of Palm Sunday?  Where in my life do I need to turn away from sin and embrace the Gospel?

Holy Week in 2 Minutes

This two minute video which runs through the holiest week of the year, Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday.
What did you learn from this video?  What could you pass on to your children?

Holy Week Services at St. Mark Catholic Church in Vienna, VA

Below is the Mass and service schedule for St. Mark Catholic Church in Vienna, VA for Holy Week 2012 (Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday).

Palm (Passion) Sunday, April 1

• Mass Times: 8:00AM; 10:00AM; 12:00 noon
  The outdoor procession will take place at the noon Mass only, and will begin with the blessing of the palms in the Activities Center.
• Parish Penance Service: 7:00PM

Holy Thursday, April 5

• Mass of the Lord's Supper: 7:30PM
• Adoration: post-Mass until midnight

Good Friday, April 6

• Stations of the Cross: 12 noon
• Celebration of the Lord's Passion: 3:00PM
• Living Stations of the Cross: 7:30PM

Holy Saturday, April 7

• Blessing of the Food: 12 noon
• Easter Vigil: 8:30PM

Easter Sunday, April 8

• Mass Times: 8:00AM; 10:00AM; 12:00 noon 

Note: Mass times on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday are a bit different for the early and late Mass: 8AM instead of 8:15AM and 12 noon instead of 11:45AM.

2 Online Stations of the Cross

A wooden cross

Each Friday at 7:30PM during Lent, St. Mark has a communal Stations of the Cross.  But what if you're unable to make the Stations on Friday?  Below are a few options for your family to pray the Stations at home.

Stations for Children
Loyola Press has put together a multimedia Stations of the Cross that can either be downloaded or viewed online in Flash format.  Each station features a brief description as well as a non-gruesome picture.  The primary audience for these stations are children.  If you're interested at engaging your children further with these stations, ask them to come up with their own picture of each Station.  You'll be surprised at what they come up with!

Shadow Puppet Stations
Put together by Jesuit Brother Edward Sheehy, the YouTube video below features a different take on Stations of the Cross, with shadows playing the part of the characters with "Were You There?" playing in the background.  This almost 9 minute video is more of a meditation than the traditional Stations of the Cross, as the only words spoken announce each Station.  Everything else is dependent on your imagination.


How does your family pray during Lent?  Do your children know about the Stations of the Cross?

Image: Janaka Dharmasena / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

"Spring Forward" on Sunday!

Add an hour Saturday night.

Remember to change your clocks Saturday night before you go to bed -- or wake up at 2AM and change them Sunday morning.  "Spring forward" by adding an hour to your time.  Don't be late to Mass and Religious Education classes!

Image Credit: Jörg Weingrill on Flickr

Raising Children of God

A February 27th article in the American Magazine pointed to four tested ways to raise your children Catholic.  Written by a mother of four, these ways resonate with my (Isaac's) upbringing.

Below are two of the the four ways (another post later in the week will cover the other two).  The entire article can be read here, but only if you have a subscription to the American Magazine.

Involvement
Consider your own participation in the life of the community.  Your children will mirror your modeling of the faith, for better or for worse.  Try to involve them in however you volunteer at the parish.  Are you a catechist? Ask them for help on a lesson plan.  Are you a Eucharistic Minister?  Pray with your family before Mass for you to be the EM God wants you to be.  Are you a lector?  Practice reading with your child.  When they get old enough (5th grade for St. Mark) they can become an altar server.  And when they get even older (middle school) they can become a lector.  Eventually, they'll see the good that you do and want to follow in your footsteps.  My mom played flute in the choir, and now I share my musical gifts with our community.

Intellectual Engagement
Do you have an 8th grade understanding of literature?  Or math?  Or science?  Our religious education shouldn't end with 8th grade either.  As an adult, continue your own intellectual development of our faith.  Visiting the RE blog or other faith-filled websites is a start.  So is reading a good book or two about our faith.  Encourage your children to think about our faith off the St. Mark property.    Prepare for Mass before going to Mass.  Talk about Mass afterward, asking if anything stood out, a particular prayer or phrase.  Quiz them on the Gospel.  Ask them good question after their RE classes.  Read the Bible together once a week or more.  Whatever works for your family, do it.

Check back later this week for the other two ways.

What do you do to engage our faith intellectually?  How are you involved?  Or how would you like to be involved?

2 Family Lenten Events at St. Mark

How is your family’s Lent this year? Okay? Good? Not so good?

There are two opportunities (both at St. Mark) in the next week for your family: (1) (Youth Mass +) Parish Lenten Mission and (2) Pizza + Children’s Stations of the Cross.

(Youth Mass +) Parish Lenten Mission
On Sunday evening, we have our monthly youth Mass at 6PM followed by a family dinner at 7PM in the Activities Center. After dinner, children (grades preschool through 8th) are invited to join in a Lenten Workshop. Parents are encouraged to attend the Parish Mission at 7:30PM being held in the church at the same time (starting at 7:30PM). (We would ask one parent to remain in the activity center if your children are in 2nd grade or below.) The title of the Mission is Lent: Our Journey into the Mystery of God.

On Monday and Tuesday Evenings, you’re invited to the other two nights of the Mission, also beginning at 7:30PM. Check out our awesome flyer (PDF) for more info.

Pizza + Children’s Stations of the Cross
Join us next Friday, March 9 for Pizza + Children’s Stations of the Cross. Pizza will be served at 7PM in the Activities Center and Stations will begin at 7:30PM in the Church. This particular Stations of the Cross caters to children in the primary grades, but is suitable for all ages. Donations will be accepted to help offset the cost of the pizza.

Please RSVP to Isaac by noon on Thursday, March 8 so we can order enough pizza.