Jesus’ journey through Holy WeekHoly Week is upon us and we are still, unfortunately, restricted from communal worship due to the novel coronavirus. Instead, the estimated 1.2 billion Catholics of the world will gather around their televisions to attend Holy Week liturgies in whatever way they can.It can be hard to remain mindful of one’s faith when worshiping from home, especially while surrounded by anxiety over this unprecedented world crisis. Catholic faithful the world over are left seeking ways to bring the proper reverence of the season into their isolation.If you ask around, the happiest childhood memories involve those simple times we spent together as a family. There was no need to spend a lot of money — perhaps there were board game, spontaneous picnics, or late-night movies together. What can account for these very simple joys? It is not the thrill or excitement from external circumstances or optimism. If we are to believe St. Paul (Gal 5:20), the true joy comes from God and others – it’s the fruit of Holy Spirit. It stems from our relationship with God and is reflected in our solidarity with each other.

So, lets share a few ideas:

The Easter Story Treasure HuntWrite key events from Jesus’ life on 10 slips of paper — from His birth to His ascension — create a treasure hunt in your house. After the children find the clues, they can work together to put the story in order so it could be read. It extends time of fun and helps them focus on the reason for the celebration.

Recreate Gethsemane1. Place a blanket over objects to make two hills. One hill is the Temple

Mount and Jerusalem, the other right next to it is the Mount of Olives. They had supper in Jerusalem Upper Room and walked up into Gethsemane --an olive grove. The name Gethsemane means "the place of the olive press." Ask the children what Jesus could see from there (Jesus was able to look on Jerusalem and the Temple that night). It must have been quite a moving sight for him. Retell the story of Jesus praying while the disciples slept, the arrest, and then point them back to Jerusalem where the trial was held. Place a few objects to represent Caiaphas', Herod's and Pilate's houses in Jerusalem. (Fans of my lessons know I like to use action figures to represent various characters. The kids like that.)

2. Point out that Golgotha was on a small hill west of the city on the opposite side from Gethsemane where Jesus was crucified. Place a hill there and ask the students to tell you what happened there. 

3. If you want to cover resurrection and/or Walk to Emmaus in this presentation, add those locations. You can add a stone to roll away for the tomb, and a small loaf of bread for the Emmaus Walk, which you can pick up and break/share with the students in conclusion.

4. Play a Game after your story/discussion. Disassemble your blanket hills of Jerusalem and place the objects aside. Now ask different groups to come forward and see how well they can reassemble the storyline and hills. After they lay it out, ask the rest of the students to judge the results. 

Create the Jelly Bean Prayer Poem and craft! If your children have been in Sunday school or in a Christian education setting for some time, you’ve undoubtedly seen the rainbow jelly bean craft used to illustrate the Story of Jesus’ death and resurrection for kids.

Red is for the blood He gave, Green is for the grass He made, Yellow is for the

sun so bright, Orange is for the edge of night…https://www.catholicicing.com/the-jelly-bean-prayer-free-downlod/

Making Hot Cross Buns for Good Friday: