(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
Then we also settle into the “routine” of Lent.
A greater challenge is to make Lent a meaningful time of preparation for the entire stretch from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday. The challenge for the mother in the domestic church is to live this liturgical season and to facilitate spiritual growth in her home. Here are some tangible ideas towards that end:
Early in the season (it’s not too late now), make a salt dough crown of thorns. With the children, knead the salt dough and make three ropes about two feet long. Intertwine the ropes and form them into a circular crown on a cookie sheet. Let the kids put wooden toothpicks in the crown and then bake it until it is hard. Explain that the crown represents Jesus’ crown of thorns. The toothpicks, or thorns, can be removed when a child does a good deed or offers a sacrifice for Jesus. The family goal is to remove all the thorns before Easter. When the crown is bare, paint it and glue silk Easter flowers to it. The crown of thorns is transformed into an Easter centerpiece. This simple activity is particularly meaningful to children. The first year we did it, my second son was so moved by the crown that he asked me to remove it from the dining room table because he simply couldn’t eat when he looked at it. It made him too sad and too sorry.
During Advent, one of the centerpieces of our observance is a table in the living room where a creche is displayed. The children play with it, much the way they play with a doll house, reenacting the Christmas story, time and again. Similarly, that table can be used as a Lenten altar. Drape the table with a purple cloth and place the crown of thorns there. Place each child’s baptismal candle on the table as a reminder that Lent is the time when the catechumens come into the Church. Light the candles each evening and pray a family rosary for the conversion of souls.
Children are especially open to rituals which appeal to as many senses as possible. Consider a feet washing ritual every Thursday during Lent. Before you begin, read the Gospel of Saint John, Chapter 13. Place a large basin of warm, lavender-scented water on a towel in front of a comfortable chair. Assemble a pumice stone, a fluffy towel, and lotion as necessary tools. With great love and gentleness, family members take turns washing, drying and massaging the feet of those they love. Take your time. I promise you will all come away with a better sense of what it is to serve each other.
As parents, we have the responsibility to teach the faith. The only effective way to teach the faith is to live it. Lent is about so much more than activities. Living the liturgical year is about making one’s entire life a prayer. It is about embracing the suffering of the cross in anticipation of embracing the joy of the risen Lord. Often it is the cross which brings us joy. Look upon the rituals we can do with our children with great joy. Surely, they will require effort, preparation and patience on our part. That is the cross. That is part of our Lenten sacrifice. But we benefit from them as much or more than our children do. As we lead them to the Lord, we grow in sanctity and we experience more keenly Easter’s joy.
