Speaking of holy, this week is it- the week before Easter. In remembrance (and celebration?) we watched The Passion of the Christ tonight. It was the first time I had seen it again since it came out. We watched it with our son (my stepson) Luke. It was beautifully painful to watch. I had the same feelings that I had the first time I watched it- horror, sadness, a sick stomach. Some may say that there is too much blood, that the movie goes too far with the torture and torment. For me it is a good reminder of what my faith is based on. If you are a Christian, you hear all the time, "Christ died for you." It is really easy for us to think of that being really easy for someone who is God's Son or thinking of it sort of like a lethal injection type of death- quick and painless. A Crucifixion is quite the opposite from what I have read. While on this earth I will never really, truly grasp God's sacrifice of His own Son. I know that I deserve nothing and yet I have everything I need because of God's love and forgiveness. That is worth celebrating!
When I was little, I really looked forward to Easter for the candy. I went straight through my catholic Sunday school classes and I knew Easter was special but I still didn't get it. As I grew and my faith evolved I went from structured, ritualized Easter with no meat on Fridays and Lenten promises to unstructured where Easter was still celebrated but much more minimally. As my faith evolves again, I am starting to be more intentional with how I am celebrating Easter. I look forward to the rest of this week as I study God's word and thank Him for my many blessings.
At church on Sunday, we had our annual feet washing/anointing service. It is a great service but unfortunately I missed it due to kids church duty. I know that some people aren't feet people or feet even gross some people out... I gotta tell you, feet aren't my thing either. I love my daughters' feet and my husband's feet and my feet are ok too. Other than that.... I don't know. I guess for this reason, the idea of foot washing is very special.
6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
John 12: 6-9
This Thursday I am going to have a very special dinner for my family. I will have bread and wine (grape juice for the little ones) - like a pseudo last supper. As a catholic I would have never considered doing something like this, feeling like I wasn't good enough to break bread and drink wine in my own home with my family. How beautiful it is that I trust God will be with us in our home for our meal. I also want to wash my husband and daughters' feet. I want my family to know that I love them and serve them and that they are special to me. I want my daughters to know that I love Jesus and I want them to love Jesus too.
I want Easter to be more than a sugar high. I am looking forward to it!
No comments:
Post a Comment