HAPPY EASTER!

My dear readers:

I have the great opportunity of sharing the news that JESUS IS ALIVE! I am throwing a party, and you are all invited. Just kidding, but that would be cool. :)

As I am pretty sure I already have said this, but I go to the wonderful Easter Vigil Mass at my church. I had the awesome opportunity to go again last night, and holy cow was it amazing! The choir sounded like it belonged in Heaven and the service was so beautiful. I almost started crying at the end because it was so amazing! Like I said before, if you haven't gone to a Easter Vigil Mass, you really need to!

But enough about that, let's talk about Easter itself!
We all know the story, the women visit the grave and see that Jesus isn't there! He is risen, He is alive! How cool is that? How exactly he rose we will never know. But as Christians we believe he died and rose to life again for our sake. Now since we have heard the story a million and one times, hearing that Jesus rose from the dead is kind-of like old news. But imagine if your sister/mom/friend came up to you and said "So-and-so died and is alive again!" You would be in a major state of shock, no? I certainly know I would. :)

If your really think about it, Easter is the source of why we are alive. 
If Jesus didn't die for us, we would be swallowed up by our own sin. We wouldn't want to live, we would just wait for our death and punishment to come. All source of happiness, forgiveness and joy would be vanished by the source of sin. The Devil would have reign over all of us!

None of that is happening because of the Resurrection. Zip, zero, nada. There is still sin in the world, of course. But we have mercy and forgiveness. We have a loving GOD that cares for us! All of this is present in the world because Jesus gave up His life for us and soon rose again.

FOR US.

Long story short, you should be pretty glad that Jesus died or else you wouldn't have a life. :)

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When you think of Easter, what do you think of? Be honest. :)
Personally I think of eggs. Brightly decorated, fun eggs that we never make at our house. (we did once and that didn't go so swell... so you can guess why we haven't made them since). Others probably think of the Easter bunny, or just any baby animal in general.

In our culture today, they have little to no meaning whatsoever. But in our faith, they have a whole novel of symbolism.

The egg, symbolizes Jesus resurrecting from the tomb. When the chick (Jesus) comes out, the egg (tomb) is left empty.

Flowers symbolize life after death. Most flowers and plant life die in the winter. But when spring comes, they are as bright and colorful as the year before! This symbolizes Jesus dying and then rising again.

Baby animals (such as bunnies) symbolize new life in general. We are made new in the likeness of God through baptism.

Let's see... what else. Grass symbolizes no more winter?! :) I hope winter is officially over now because I am so sick of snow! At least this morning it bright and cheery!

So now let's celebrate! No more darkness, sadness and death. Only happiness and life reign now!

Have a wonderful, blessed Easter!

All through Christ,

Maddie

Holy Week (Lenten Series Part Four)

Well, guess what week is sneaking up on us? Holy Week of course! Holy Week is the week before Easter, and very well the most important week of our Catholic faith. It starts on Palm Sunday and ends on Holy Saturday. There are many different days and traditions in between such has Holy Thursday and Good Friday.

I know as personal experience, this week is one of the most impacting-faith wise. It starts off so joyous since Christ the King is coming in on a donkey, and everyone is shouting "Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!" but then it slows down a bit until we come to Holy Thursday, and then it really stops on Good Friday.  If you aren't for certain what we do on these days, be not afraid! I will show you the stepping stones. :)

Palm Sunday: Like I mentioned before, Palm Sunday starts out very joyous. There is very happy, exciting music as the priest processes in. I know sometimes our children's choir process in as well, singing the opening song. We all have palm branches in our hands... why? Well first off, that's what the people did thousands of years ago when Jesus was the one who processed on a donkey. They wanted something to lay down to "revere" him, so they grabbed palms off nearby trees and laid down coats, blankets, etc.

I have heard (and wondered) about this question many times. Why would the Jews turn on Jesus so quickly at his Passion when they just were worshipping Him? The answer I have received was the Jews expected Jesus to be a war general. They wanted a leader to lead them into battle against the harsh Romans! But, as we all know, Jesus did not come to the earth for that reason. He is a war general though...  a war general against sin. So as you can imagine, the people were greatly let down and decided to turn against Him.

So that's why Palm Sunday gets a little sadder as the Mass wears on because the joy wears off. We come to realize that Jesus' death is actually coming closer and closer, and we need to prepare ourselves for it.

For the actual scripture passage, click here.

Holy Thursday: I love this Mass. It is so cool to see the priests humble themselves and wash the feet of the parishioners! Although it is not a Holy Day of Obligation, it really is a "must see" I guess I could say. This tradition started out from the Bible story that we all know. On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus cleaned the disciples feet. The disciples were surprised because they thought they  should wash Jesus' feet! But no, Jesus did it as an example for the disciples. This was the last time he would enjoy a meal his disciples before his brutal death. What do you think Jesus was thinking? How would you feel if you knew this was the last meal you would ever have with your friends and family?

For the actual scripture passage, click here.

Good Friday- For my last installment in my Lenten Series, I will be going over Good Friday as well as Tre Ore. So for this post, I will just give you a quick summary. :)

Good Friday is one of the most reflective times of the year in the Catholic church. It is the only day where the candle that shows Jesus' presence is not lit (excluding part of Holy Saturday) and also communion is not consecrated on that day. Good Friday is a day of fasting, repentance and reflection.

Holy Saturday: Techinically, on Holy Saturday there also is no Mass since the Easter Vigil is apart of Easter Sunday. That it the "technical"reasoning. Right at dark, the Easter Vigil Mass starts. And let's just say, if you have never been to an Easter Vigil Mass, you better put it on your bucket list. :) Many people are a little wary of attending this Mass because of it's length. Yes, it may be about twice as long as a normal Sunday Mass, but it still is a beautiful service. There are numerous readings and pslams filled with symbolic thinking. At the beginning of the Mass, everyone is handed a candle (or this is how they do it at my church). There is this big candle that the priest lights at the beginning, and a few people light their individual candles from it. Then it becomes a train of passing on light from one candle to the next until the whole church is flooded with candle light. It is so cool! The only light source is from our candles, and you can see people's faces glowing.

That isn't the only cool part about Easter Vigil. New believers are baptized, confirmed and some even receive their First Communion! It is so cool to see humans older than newborns baptized into the faith.

This is a very very cool experience that you do not want to miss out on!


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So how can you make this Holy Week a good one? First off, focus more on prayer. Prayer is the power source this week. Also, try going to Stations of the Cross! It is a beautiful, inspiring way to really feel what Jesus felt during the Passion. For a link to a wonderful post on the Stations of the Cross, click here.

I wish you all a blessed and wonderful Holy Week!

All through Christ,

Maddie

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Works Cited:
Hostetter, Aaron. "2013 Life Teen Annual Appeal: Expect Miracles." LifeTeencom for Catholic Youth. LifeTeen.com, n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.
Richert, Scott P. "Holy Saturday." About.com Catholicism. About.com, n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.
Richert, Scott P. "Palm Sunday- Solemnity of Palm Sunday." About.com Catholicism. About.com, n.d. Web.