Holy Week

Palm Sunday

The Gospel reading on Palm Sunday-for Children.

This story is a child friendly version of the Gospel from Palm Sunday [Antiochian Orthodox Church in America]. The questions are to engage your children and have them think about this beautiful Feast.

Six days before the Feast of Passover, in the village of Bethany, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Then, Lazarus’ family made supper for Jesus. Martha served it and Lazarus was at the table with Him. Mary, the other sister in the family, took a pound of very expensive perfume. She poured it all over Jesus’ feet, then wiped His feet with her hair. The whole house smelled so nice!

Jesus’ disciple Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus, rudely said, “Why wasn’t that perfume sold? The money could have been given to poor people.” (He did not really care about poor people—he just wanted the money, so he could steal it.) Jesus told him, “You will always have poor people with you, but you won’t always have me here!”

After that, a lot of Jewish people came. They wanted to see Jesus. They also wanted to see Lazarus, to see if he was really alive!

The next day, many people heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. They took branches from palm trees and waved them to honor Him. They said, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!” They kept saying this as Jesus rode by them, on the back of a donkey, all the way to Jerusalem.

Not until much later did Jesus’ disciples realize that the prophets had told what would happen on this day!

Discussion

1. What did Jesus do in Bethany, six days before Passover?

2. After they had supper together, what did Mary do? Do you think that was nice? Why or why not?

3. Did Judas think it was nice? Why or why not?

4. Where did Jesus go the next day?

5. As He went, the people called Jesus “the King of Israel.” What did they do to show honor to Him?

6. When you go to Divine Liturgy, listen closely. Do you hear the words that the people said to Jesus when He came near them on that day? We say (or sing) those words too, as He comes near to us! We sing: (I can get this hymn from the Liturgy book so don’t translate it!) Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth! Heaven and Earth are filled with your glory. O Hosana in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of Lord. Hosana in the highest!

Craft: Palm Branches

You will need: green paper, string, glue or a stapler, and a rectangular piece of cardboard about 30 cm long and 8 cm wide (I will use cardboard from a pasta box or from a box of crackers)

On the green paper trace your child’s hand 12 times. (I chose 12 for how many Disciples were with Christ.)

Cut out the hands on the green paper.

Glue or staple the hand prints onto the piece of cardboard. Start at the top and spread them out on the cardboard. Leave about 3 cm of room at the bottom. This is so that your children will be able to hold their palm branch.

After you have glued or stapled all of the hand prints, tie some string or ribbon at the bottom of the palm branch.

I encourage you as a family on Palm Sunday, when you come home to shout and sing: “Hosana! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

We can use the bay leaves, like we get in Albania, or Palm Crosses, that we receive at Church in addition to these homemade palm branches.

Recipe: Lenten French Toast

On this day we are allowed to eat fish. But since we don’t eat much fish in our family, I like to make a special breakfast after church. This is a traditional American breakfast, but it is Lenten!

8 slices bread

1 cup almond milk

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

Strawberries

Toasted almonds

Mix the milk, flour, vanilla extract, sugar, and cinnamon together in a bowl.

Dip bread into mixture and place it directly onto a skillet and heat over medium-high and cook until both sides are cooked and light brown. Repeat the same process for all of the bread. Top the French toast with strawberries, toasted almonds, and a pinch of cinnamon. Enjoy!

We are about to embark on the most beautiful week of our Faith. Let us be like Mary, let us be attentive and focus on Christ despite the hectic and busy schedule of the week. As parents, and especially mothers, let us reflect on how this Holy Week will affect our children. Let us encourage them to live out their Faith, to focus on Christ, and to attend as many services as possible. May you have a Holy Week filled with love, patience, and especially strength.

Holy Monday

On Holy and Great Monday night we celebrate Orthros for Tuesday. This is our second night having Orthros at nighttime as opposed to the normal morning Orthros when we are not in Holy Week. On Holy Monday night we will hear a long, but beautiful Gospel from Matthew.

Here is something that we will hear, and that you can share with your children:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39)

Discussion

Why should we love God first?

How can we show our love to God?

How can we teach other people to show their love to God?

Who is our neighbor?

How can we show our love to our neighbor?

How can we teach other people to show their love to their neighbor?

Craft: God is Love necklace

After discussing about the Gospel reading, write some of the ideas your children have on how to show our neighbors and family that we love them.

You will need:

2 pieces of color paper, string or ribbon, tape, markers, and scissors.

On the two pieces of paper draw circles that are about as big as the bottom of a soda pop can. On each circle write ideas of how your child can show love to their neighbors and family.

Some ideas Moses said were: patience, prayer, kindness, sharing and listening.

There are no right or wrong answers here. But encourage your children to think honestly and to talk about why they chose each thing.

Cut out the circles and make a small hole at the top of them. String the circles on the string or ribbon. If you want to keep them in place tape the circle from front to back on the string and space them out. If you don’t mind them going in one place, don’t tape them.

Recipe

Pasta salad with spinach and oranges

This recipe is quick and easy to assemble. It refrigerates well and can be made in a double batch for leftovers another day.

Ingredients:

1 bag of pasta (your choice)

Fresh Spinach

1 orange or 3 mandarins

½ cup chopped walnuts

1 tomato cut into small squares

1 cucumber cut into small squares

¼ cup dried cranberries (boronice te kuqe te thate)

Dressing:

½ cup oil

¼ cup of balsamic vinegar

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

Cook the pasta according to the directions. While your doing that prepare your vegetables. Try and cut everything to be the same size you can get each vegetable on every bite. Wash the spinach and cut it up a little. Toss the vegetables, orange, and spinach together in a bowl. After the pasta finishes cooking add it to the bowl of salad ingredients. Make the dressing, mixing it with the salad. Then before you eat add the cranberries and walnuts. Enjoy!

Today, try and engage your children and speak to them about how they can show their love to their friends and family. Also, how can they show God that they love Him. Encourage them to pray, to talk, to God. This is one essential way that we can show God that we love Him.

Holy Tuesday

On Great and Holy Tuesday morning during the Presanctified Liturgy we hear a beautiful Gospel reading. Here is the story for your children.

Jesus told his disciples and friends a story: There were ten maidens, that means girls, who were waiting for a bridegroom to come to a wedding. Their job was to walk with him when he came, and light the way with oil lamps. They needed to have a lot of oil in their lamps, so that they would be ready. Five of them were wise and had enough oil in their lamps, they would not run out of oil. But the other five were foolish did not make sure to check their lamps, they did not have enough oil.

It got very late in the night. All of the girls fell asleep.

At midnight, the bridegroom came and everyone started saying: “He is here! Come and greet him!” The girls all woke up and started to light their lamps and get ready. The foolish ones said to the wise ones: “We ran out of oil, give us some of your oil!”

But there was not enough time for the wise girls to share their oil, and still have enough. The foolish girls ran out to buy some more from the store. But while they were gone, the bridegroom went with the wise girls to the wedding party. The door closed.

The foolish girls returned, and knocked on the door. They shouted: “Let us in!” But it was too late. The bridegroom said: “I do not know you.”

After Jesus finished telling the story, He said: “Always be attentive and watching, always be ready, for you do not know the day or the hour when the Son of Man is coming.”

Discussion

Who do you think the Bridegroom is?

Is Jesus the Son of Man, from the story?

How can we be ready for Jesus?

What are things that we can do to live a life with Jesus at the center?

What is forgiveness?

Do you think that forgiveness is important when you live a life with Jesus at the center? Why or why not?

Why is it important to be joyful when we meet the Son of Man, Jesus, and not be ashamed of what we do?

When Jesus Christ comes again, we have to be ready! We need to be like the five wise girls who brought enough oil for their lamps. Now, we won’t have oil lamps to wait for Christ, but we will have all of the actions, good and bad, that we have done in our lives. We can be ready to meet Christ by doing good things, that would make Him happy. We can also be very sorry, ask for forgiveness, when we do bad things. Things that make us feel bad inside, and things that make other people feel bad. Things that we know Christ would not want us to do. Like: yelling at our parents, our siblings, stealing, hitting, speaking with mean words, and not listening. Instead we use kind words, love our family, do kind things that make them happy, help those who are hurting, and always ask for forgiveness and forgive those that have done bad things to us.

We need to always remember that Christ wants us to be with Him. He never leaves us out if we really want to be with Him.

Craft: Dove Kite

We want to always remember the Christ is with us in every moment of every day. We always need to be attentive. But this can be difficult, especially for children. Well let us be honest, even for us adults it is hard to be attentive. One way I like to explain to Moses how he can be attentive and what skills that takes is to do a craft from the Draw Near Designs Calendar. It is called a “Dove Kite.”

Flying kites is something that Moses has really liked doing. But one time when we were at Kapi i Rodonit (Cape of Rodon) he was flying his kite by himself and it was a very windy day. Dn. Stpehanos and I were near, but we tried to let him be independent and we explained how important it was to be attentive to the kite and how the wind was moving it. In the next moment a big gust of wind came and Moses lost his kite in the trees. He was so sad! He kept saying over and over how he should have been more careful, been more attentive, and listened better. It is a moment he still talks about today. Luckily, Dn. Stephanos retrieved the kite after about an hour. Moses is still even more careful and attentive when he flies his kite. He remembers the lesson of when he lost it in the trees. I tried to explain to him that we always need to be attentive every day. We need to be ready to listen to Christ and have Him with us. Just like we pay attention to the wind and the kite when we fly it, so to do we need to pay attention to what we say and do so that we are always ready for Christ.

Dove Kite

Materials: 1 piece of white paper, crayons or markers, ruler, 1-1.5 meters of string or ribbon, stapler, hole puncher

Instructions:

Decorate the paper on both sides.

Fold the paper in half, like a book. Along the fold of the paper, measure and mark off 6 centimeters from the top (point A) and 9 centimeters from the top (point B).

Take the top two corners of the paper, flip them down, and staple them together at Point A.

Make a hold at Point B. Make sure to make the hole far enough from the fold that it won’t rip when you put the string through.

Tie a long piece of string through the hole.

Grab the end of the string and start running! Be attentive to not let your kite fly away!

Recipe

Peanut butter cookies

INGREDIENTS

2 cups (225 g) quick oats

2 (285 g, approx. 1.25 cups) ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup (125 g) peanut butter

Additional add ins: dark chocolate, craisins, peanuts, raisins

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Mash the bananas in in a bowl with a fork until they form a paste.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Drop 16 spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet, shaping each spoonful into a cookie shape.

Bake for 15 minutes. They should be firm and slightly browned when done.

We are still at the beginning of Holy Week. Let us instill in our children the importance of being attentive and listening to God. Try and remind them to make Christ the center of their days this week. May you have a blessed day filled with kindness, patience, and strength.