Preparing for Holy Week at Home

Crucifixion

I find it strangely ironic that, as catechists, we have always expressed a desire for parents to be more involved in their children’s faith formation and now, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents have been thrust into this role. The problem is, parents can feel as though they’ve been thrown into the deep end of the pool unless we provide them with the support they need and deserve to form their children in faith.

One such example is on our doorstep right now: the coming of Holy Week, which is the most solemn time of the year for Christians. Under normal circumstances, we catechists would be encouraging our students to participate fully in Palm Sunday and the Triduum and providing them with catechesis to prepare them for the experience. Since we won’t be able to celebrate these holy days with our parish communities this year, we need to encourage families to learn about and mark the days of Holy Week in special ways at home. With that in mind, I’d like to draw your attention to the following resources that can assist and support parents in observing Holy Week with their families at home.

Finally, a few books to consider for Holy Week:

  • Seek & Find Bible—Explore the Bible with small children through this whimsically illustrated book.
  • Loyola Kids Book of Bible Stories—Read with older children the chapters about Jesus’ final week before the Resurrection. The stories include questions for reflection and short prayers to pray together. (Also available as an eBook.)
  • Station to Station—Take an Ignatian journey through the Stations of the Cross with Gary Jansen’s book. (Also available as an eBook.)

Let’s partner with parents to bring the experience of Holy Week to Catholic homes during this challenging time.

About Joe Paprocki 2742 Articles
Joe Paprocki, DMin, is National Consultant for Faith Formation at Loyola Press, where, in addition to his traveling/speaking responsibilities, he works on the development team for faith formation curriculum resources including Finding God: Our Response to God’s Gifts and God’s Gift: Reconciliation and Eucharist. Joe has more than 35 years of experience in ministry and has presented keynotes, presentations, and workshops in more than 100 dioceses in North America. Joe is a frequent presenter at national conferences including the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, the Mid-Atlantic Congress, and the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership. He is the author of numerous books, including the best seller The Catechist’s Toolbox, A Church on the Move, Under the Influence of Jesus, and Called to Be Catholic—a bilingual, foundational supplemental program that helps young people know their faith and grow in their relationship with God. Joe is also the series editor for the Effective Catechetical Leader and blogs about his experiences in faith formation at www.catechistsjourney.com.

8 Comments

  1. Thanks so much for gathering all these resources together. We have been tasked by our DRE to send “lessons” for families. These are such a gift to help me do this.

  2. thank you for sharing ideas and for making some available in Spanish. Our Spanish families will appreciate this information.

  3. Thanks so much for these resources, I know the families and catechists are truly grateful, blessings always.

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