Easter Preparation

The small town in Mexico where I am from is predominantly Catholic and I have memories of terrible sadness relating to the celebration of Lent.  I remembered being terrified of the common practice of acted out Stations of the Cross because all I saw was suffering and death.  Thus, I decided that this Lent my nephew needed to be involve in the traditions of our church.  I envisioned forty days of prayer, study, fasting and almsgiving at the level of a seven-year-old.  I offered Mass for my desire to teach my little guy more in depth about our faith.  Then I asked him if he would like to participate and after explaining how Catholics prepare for Easter he eagerly said yes. 

Giving up toys, Our prayer candle and Lenten Calendar.

Fasting:

First we went over fasting.  I explained to him that for forty days we fast (like Jesus did in the desert) to make more room for God and on his own he decided that he was going to give up playing with his precious Thomas the Train toys.  We placed his trains in a box and he created a label: “no toys for 40 days.”  He wasn’t satisfied with just giving up his train he decided that he also wanted to give up playing games on his laptop (smile).

Our Prayer Tree with Holy Week Art Work.

Easter Prayer Tree:

The second thing we did to prepare ourselves for the forty days was create an Easter prayer tree.  At the park the three of us (for Dollar tagged along) searched for branches and pinecones to create an Easter Prayer Tree.  I printed pictures of Jesus during Holy week and bought some glittery eggs to decorate the bare branches with.  We placed the tree in the center of my kitchen table (that’s the location we decided to pray at) along with a candle.  On the candle every day we add our intentions in ink and light it up as we begin to pray.

Methods of Study

Prayer & Study:

At my local Catholic store I bought a book Saints for Boys and a Brother Francis video and coloring book.  During my shopping I discovered that the Berenstain Bears found God and have a series of about twelve books on Christian spirituality!  This was such a godsend because one of my nephew’s favorite cartoons is the silly bear family.  I found this super book (highly recommend for parents) The Berenstain Bears and the Easter Story and my nephew loved it.  In fact, that little book inspired him to want to talk about Jesus all night. The simple way Berenstain presents the biblical story not only captivates the attention of little ones, but also explains it in such a sensitive, meaningful, relevant and understandable way. I am glad that I also purchased The Berenstain Bears Follow God’s Word it’s a collection of five stories on prayer and all things godly- these books really lead to great discussions on faith.  We also have a calendar that he crosses off each day so that he visually sees the progression towards Resurrection Sunday. 

"Grace what have you done murdered for me on that cross..."

Almsgiving:

All on his own he decided to do chores for payment and to use the money to buy a gift for the poor.

Brother Francis and Saints study guides.

So far it’s been such a learning experience for both of us and a blessed time of togetherness.  He looks forward to prayer time and excitedly reminds me every day that it’s time to pray.  I found that I love to share and discuss my faith with my little man.  He comes up with super questions some of them send me into great adventures to find the answer and the discussions we have are wonderful.  If you want joy in your life spend time with a child!  In addition, the prayer tree has worked great as a witnessing tool, curious people who come over to the house have been asking what the tree is about. I am having so much fun! My goal was to produce fruits by teaching my nephew all about our Catholic faith at an age appropriate level and God used the opportunity to bless me, God just loves spoiling His little flower as Saint Therese would say (smile).