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Holy Week Memories
User:
Katherine Martinez
Date: 3/19/2008 2:40 pm
Views: 443
I was fixing to blog about “the best holy week ever,” but I couldn’t settle on "the best." So here are my Holy Week Memories, meant only to prompt you. Please post yours, as well. Then after Easter, we’ll post our Easter memories.
Palm Sunday, 1983: My future husband, Dave, made “crosses” out of the palm leaves we waved in church that morn. His father showed him how when he was small. These are little woven crosses that work well as bookmarks. We make them whenever we have palm branches. Our kids can make them too. Do you? Holy Saturday, 1996: Our neighbor, Jim Lambert, was baptized into the Catholic Church, and our whole cul-de-sac was there to watch. Jim was raised without religion, and his wife, Sheree, is Catholic. We became good friends with them, when they moved in to the neighborhood. Eventually, they began to visit our church and spend time with our Christian friends. Jim decided he wanted to follow Christ, and he enrolled in the adult catechism program at Sheree’s parish. We were a little disappointed, because we hoped he’d be baptized in “our” church and they would join “our” church. Nevertheless, he followed through with catechism, and we had a little ecumenical, neighborhood celebration! The best Saturday, ever! If you’ve never been to a Catholic Easter Vigil, you should find one and go. Click here to learn more about the Catholic “watch” service that closes Holy Week and ushers in the Resurrection Celebration. The part about Easter Vigil is at the bottom of this page, and the whole website is very good. Palm Sunday Evening, 2006: I was in Chicago for meetings, and I attended a performance of Hayden’s, The Seven Last Words of Christ at Winnetka Covenant Church. This concert was given in memory of two church members. Covenant ministers and seminary faculty gave 7 reflections between movements. Truly memorable! Those are my most memorable. What about you? Btw: Jim’s brother and parents also came to Christ and joined the Catholic Church. The experience of knowing them and watching how God drew these people—atheists with no Christian education/formation—into the Church of Jesus Christ, has been one of the most faith-enforcing, surprising experiences of my life. May the presence of Christ be remarkably evident to you this week, Katie Martinez
Re: Holy Week Memories
User:
kaliczi
Date: 3/21/2008 2:25 pm
Views: 36
Easter Sunday, 2002. Glen and I were in Irkutsk, Russia. We had finally completed our adoption of Igor, but were required to stay in Irkutsk another 2 weeks before being able to fly to Moscow and complete the process and get him back to the states. Our 3-1/2 year old twins were not with us, staying instead with my parents for our entire month-long journey. Praise God for the Jacksons - a young missionary couple with young children close to Igor's age living in Irkutsk. They invited us to their home that Sunday for worship and a wonderful homecooked meal. It was just our 2 families gathered in their tiny living room and around the piano. We sang all the Easter hymns, took turns reading scripture, and celebrated Jesus' resurrection. When I began to play "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" - my fav. Easter hymn - I burst into tears. I cannot fully explain the mix of emotions: the gratitude for the Jacksons and the way they reached out to us and loved us, the pain of missing my children and my family, of missing my church family and the usual Easter celebration there, the stress of being halfway around the world, the mixture of joy and fear that comes with adopting a child. I think this one powerful Easter experience has forever changed the way I view and celebrate the holiday. |
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