The Journey: Walking through Holy Week

What is your favorite Holy Day?  Most think of Christmas -the joy, the family time, the music, the celebration of Jesus’ birth. 

But for me, it’s Holy Week - especially the Holy Tridiuum.

Holy Week, is quieter - a time of reflection, solitude and  gratitude. It is important to take the time and think about what is happening during this week.

Imaginative prayer is a beautiful way to enter into Holy Week.  On Palm Sunday, we hear the Passion Gospel for the first time.  As you listen, choose a person and stay with them throughout the week.  

See what they saw. Smell  what they smelled.  Cry the tears that they cried.  Feel what they felt.  

Will you walk with Peter, who denied knowing Jesus three times.  Or will  your heart be drawn to Mary, hearing Simeon’s words echo in her mind “A sword will pierce through your own soul also” ?

In my own life I experienced a life-changing Holy Tridium, after the death of my baby daughter. I was drawn to Mary, somehow finding comfort in knowing  she understood my grief - and I began to understand hers.  

The tears I shed that year were not only for my own loss, but for Mary, our Blessed Mother, who endured the suffering of her Son. 

My relationship with Mary changed after that year, she was not just the Mother of my Savior, our Blessed Mother.  She is my sister in grief.

Take the time to partake in the celebrations of the Holy Tridium, feel the pain of Jesus and all he suffered for each of us.  Feel the emotions of his close companions, Peter, John or even Judas.  Maybe you are drawn to someone not mentioned in the passion but whose life was changed by Jesus, such as Lazarus, his sisters Mary and Martha, or the women at the well.

Whoever you decide to follow during this time, make sure to take the time this week to enter into the Passion with them.

Read all 4 accounts of the Passion found in  the Gospel, walk with those who were there. You might even write what you experience in a journal.  

Then pause and reflect on your own relationship with Jesus - His love for you , then, now and always.

My prayer for you is that this Holy Week gives you the space to pause, to reflect, and to encounter Jesus in a deeper way than ever before.

Choose Joy Always

Jane

Love in Action: Simple Ways to Live Holy Week

Holy Week is one of the most sacred times of the year.

We walk with Jesus through His suffering, His death, and ultimately His Resurrection. While we attend Mass and reflect on these mysteries, there are also simple, meaningful traditions that can help us live this week more deeply in our homes and daily lives.

When my kids were younger, I often found myself trying to do everything—wanting to make every moment meaningful, sometimes going a little overboard, and often creating more stress than intention.

That’s not what this is meant to be.

These are simply ideas—gentle ways to help you share your faith within your home, beyond just attending Mass on Sunday.

Our Catholic faith is a living faith. We are called to let our faith shape our lives, not just have our faith be one small part of it.

Take a look at these traditions and choose what feels right for your family.

Let this be an invitation to slow down, to be present, and to spend time with Jesus during this holiest of weeks.

📖 Deepening the Week

One meaningful way to enter into Holy Week is by choosing a book to read—either on your own or together as a family.

.It doesn’t have to be long or complicated. Even reading a few pages each day can help slow you down and draw you more deeply into the meaning of this week.

This year, my husband and I are reading Seven Last Words: An Invitation to a Deeper Friendship with Jesus by Fr. James Martin. It has been a beautiful way to reflect on the words of Jesus and grow in our relationship with Him.

You might consider finding a book that speaks to you and making it part of your Holy Week rhythm.

These traditions don’t have to be complicated. In fact, the most meaningful ones are often the simplest. Here are a few ways to bring your faith into your daily life this week:

🌿 Palm Sunday → Beginning the Journey

After Mass, take your blessed palms and make small crosses.

Place one in each bedroom as a quiet reminder of the love Jesus has for each of us.

🕊 Holy Thursday → Love and Service

Attend Holy Thursday Mass and reflect on the Last Supper.

If you are able, spend time at the altar of repose. Visiting even one or two churches can be a beautiful way to enter into the quiet watch with Jesus.

At home, you might also:

• share a simple meal inspired by the Passover

• gather as a family and wash one another’s feet

These acts remind us that love is humble, personal, and sacrificial.

✝️ Good Friday → Reverence and Reflection

Attend Good Friday services and, if possible, pray the Stations of the Cross.

In your home, you can create a visual reminder of the solemnity of the day by covering crosses and religious images until Easter Sunday.

Allow the day to be quieter, more reflective—a space to sit with the depth of Christ’s love.

At 3:00pm, consider beginning the Divine Mercy Novena. This simple prayer marks the hour of Jesus’ death and is a beautiful way to enter into His mercy. The novena continues each day through Divine Mercy Sunday.

🌅 Holy Saturday → Waiting with Hope

Holy Saturday is a day of waiting.

It can also be a day of quiet acts of love:

• visit someone who is elderly or sick and bring them a small sign of Easter joy

• prepare your Easter meal and, if possible, have your food blessed

• make “good deed beads” or small tokens for those entering the Church at the Easter VigiL

You might also bring joy into your home by:

• dyeing Easter eggs using natural dyes

• making Resurrection rolls as a reminder of the empty tomb

Continue the Divine Mercy Novena today, allowing it to become a quiet rhythm of prayer as you wait in hope.

✨ Easter Vigil & Easter Sunday → Celebration

Attend the Easter Vigil Mass if you are able—it is one of the most beautiful liturgies of the year.

Then celebrate Easter Sunday with gratitude and joy, remembering that everything we have walked through this week leads to new life.

Continue the Divine Mercy Novena today, carrying the joy of the Resurrection into this prayer of trust

🌿 Closing These traditions. are not about doing everything perfectly. They are simply invitations—small ways to enter more fully into the story of our faith. Choose one or two that speak to you. Let them guide your heart. And allow this Holy Week to become not just something you observe…but something you truly live.

Choose Joy Always

Jane