I was looking for my list of 50 Ways to celebrate the Easter season 2017 and decided to update the title and re-post this on facebook and my facebook page. I fully intend on making posters to hang on the wall and fill in daily with the kids and do all the reading this year. Perhaps you would like to try it with us?
I don't know how it is in your home, but for us, during Lent we try to spend each evening reading something spiritual. Something that will hopefully help us focus on Lent and why we spend these 40 days preparing. We talk about Our Lord's Passion and Death. We not only pray the Stations of the Cross, we literally walk them, following pictures placed throughout our home.
The Triduum is spent a little more somber as we notice the finality of His life. The end is coming. We eat certain foods, to remind us. We change symbols on our home altar daily. We spend much more time at church.
Then Easter Sunday is here. Time for rejoicing, celebrating! He has risen, just as He promised: "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day." Matthew 20:18-19
In the Catholic faith, the Easter season is celebrated not for one day or one week, but for 50 days, until Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came to rest on Mary and the disciples in the Upper Room. But what have WE been doing for these 50 days? The Acts of the Apostles does not give us a whole lot to read and meditate on and there are not many books on this, nor special symbols as we await this special feast.
Several years back, after feeling like I had a little Lenten let-down, I came up with a solution to that for our family and we try to use this every year during the 50 days of Easter.
I call it 50 Days 50 Ways to Pentecost! Only with the help of the Holy Spirit was I able to compile a list of 50 things to learn about and meditate on for each of the 50 days of Easter. We use simple children's books to read short descriptions of each and I make posters to post on the wall, filling in each day with the new thing we have learned. (If you are into lapbooking, these would probably be perfect for that!)
There are so many topics in our amazing faith that come in similar sets of numbers so you can play with the numbers and change them around each year. Here is the list we will follow for this year:
10 Commandments
2 Great Commandments
8 Beatitudes
7 Corporal Works of Mercy
7 Spiritual Works of Mercy
9 Fruits of the Holy Spirit
7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit
That equals 50! Some replacements could be the 4 Cardinal Virtues, The 12 Apostles, 3 Theological Virtues, 20 Mysteries of the Rosary, the 7 Sacraments, the possibilities are endless! (Some of these are linked with children's books that have great reflections good for all ages to follow--we use these little books often!)
So if you are feeling like there is nothing for you to follow or immerse yourself in once Easter Sunday has passed, feel free to borrow these ideas and enjoy the path to Pentecost!
Have a faith filled Holy Week and a Blessed Easter season!
