Our Church is now approaching the high point of the entire year! Throughout Destined, we have learned about many of the feasts and seasons Catholics celebrate at Mass. The Sacred Triduum is the shortest season on the Church calendar. It begins with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday and ends on Holy Saturday. The Easter season begins with the celebration of the Easter vigil. Before beginning the lesson, can your family name some of the other days and liturgies that make up the Triduum?
Introduction Video
Go Deeper
Holy Week and especially the Triduum, tell us the story of Jesus’ passion and death. The word “story” is a great way to remember what this season is all about. Every year during this time, the Church retells the story of Jesus’ final days in Jerusalem and invites us to be a part of the story as well. Can you think of why this is important? It is because we were, are, and will continue to be a very important part of the story!
Arguably, the most famous verse in the entire Bible is John 3:16. In it, Jesus says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” When Jesus says everyone, he includes us! He is telling us the reason he came to Earth, the reason that he suffered and died on the cross, was to forgive our sins and offer all of us eternal life!
Each liturgy during Holy Week tells us a different part of the story of how Jesus saved us. The best part of this story is that it really happened! During Holy Week, we live out the story of the greatest thing God has ever done for us, his people. Watch the videos below to learn more about this story.
Pre-K through 1st Grade:
Grades 2 and up:
Now that you know what happens on Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, open up to the next two blank pages of your Destined Journal. At the top of the left hand page, write “The _________ family’s Holy Week – 2021.” Divide the left-hand page into 4 sections, one for each of the days mentioned above. This is your planning page. Ask each member of the family for something the whole family can do on each day to remember the part of the story being celebrated. Going to one of the liturgies, either online or in person, is always a great idea! Other than that, get creative! There will be some great activities in this lesson’s “Live it Out” section if you need help.
On the right-hand page, keep a scrapbook/journal page of how you live out what you planned. Take pictures of the children doing the activities, write Mass reflections, etc. This is your place to chronical how God blesses your family during Holy Week! If you need extra pages for the scrapbook portion, go ahead and use them. When you are done, don’t forget to share a picture of your scrapbook page(s) in the comments!
Holy Week is our annual time to remember what is most important: God’s incredible love for us, his people. When we meditate on everything Jesus went through, how can we not want to be the best Christians we can possibly be? By participating in the traditions of Holy Week, we are reminded that God’s story is our story too, and we become more and more thankful we have a God who loves us so much, he sent us his only-begotten son, so that we may have eternal life!
Featured Saint
This week, we are going to do something a little different for the Featured Saint section of the lesson. There are many different characters in the story of Holy Week and many of them are now canonized saints.
As you go through this week, I invite you to pay attention to the stories of some of the characters other than Jesus during his final days. If one of them seems to interest you or tug at your heart, open your Bible and read the parts pertaining to them and their role in Holy Week. Afterwards, continue exploring their life and researching other information you can find about them.
Let Us Pray
While you and your family spend some time in prayer this week, I recommend listening to the following song together. It is sung by two, very talented sisters and beautifully tells the story of Holy Week and Easter.
For many people, music is a wonderful aid in their prayer life. It has the power to move us emotionally and open our hearts to how the Lord is working within us. There are many ways to pray during Holy Week. Pay attention to the role music plays in them!
Live it Out Activities
Use the following guide to come up with creative ways you can use the palms you receive on Palm Sunday:
We liked learning about the triduum this week. Yesterday, we went and walked through the stations of the cross at a church in Novi. We have been reading the gospel at night as our bedtime prayer, and we are excited to make resurrection rolls!
Another good lesson. We especially liked the Hallelujah song that was included in the lesson. We enjoyed making the edible crown of thorns.
Yes, the song was so beautiful! 🎶
Very good lesson. It followed the Stations of the Cross beautifully, and helped to explain the journey of Jesus’s final week.
We had a wonderful Holy week! We were able to attend a few masses in person, watch several stations of the cross & Gospel shows. We made fun designs with our palms and had an Easter Story themed lunch. Our new favorite tradition might be making resurrection rolls after Easter Vigil mass! We also enjoyed taking & printing photos of our week and putting them in the Destined journal as a keepsake.
Loved the lesson! We especially liked learning about easter. We also loved the song and are planning on making the edible crowns.