Family Friday–Good Friday Edition

Good Friday, growing up I did not think the Friday before Easter was a good one. I mean really how could it be GOOD when Jesus died? As a child I had a limited view of death. Most of my relatives were still kicking well into my teens. So I did not see death as something to be obtained, rather something to be avoided.  My children unfortunately or fortunately do not have the same perspective as I do. The lost both of their grandfathers to cancers when they were young. While they will miss their grandfathers they also knew that they were in a better place and not in pain.
As an adult I know that Jesus chose to die for us. He chose to bear mortal and emotional pain for us.  He conquered death and rose from the dead for us. So that we may know that will can have everlasting life.
How do you share such a profound lesson with your little ones? I was discussing this same subject earlier with the Grande Dame of the family, the family matriarch so to speak. When we were young she would take us to Living Stations of The Cross or Outdoor Stations of the Cross. Our Living Stations of the Cross were pretty tame by today’s standards. Today some churches will perform living stations outside with live horses and many participants.  This picture is from a few years ago when dh took Pi ( our oldest) with him. This sort of stations may be too intense for the younger ones to go to. 

We are fortunate that our parish offers a Children’s Stations of the Cross. We plan on attending that as a family,  But what do you do if you want to share The Way  with your children but it is not feasible to go?  There are some great resources that you can use out there so instead of recreating the wheel I am just going to share them with you.
Lacy over at Catholic Icing  has some great ideas for the crafty

Stations of the Cross Eggs just for starters.

For Older kids this is a great at home stations 

http://www.cptryon.org/prayer/child/stations/index.html

Even Mother Angelica has gotten on board with this multi-media presentation of the Stations of The Cross. 

Catholic Mom has some great Stations of The Cross  coloring sheets that you can have the kids color and then hang up around the house and do your own stations of the cross

This app gives you a real life look at the Stations of the Cross in Jerusalem.. 

Sometimes a book does the job the best.   

I just love the colorful illustrations in this one.

My kids have used this one to follow along for many years. Our copy is much more worn and tattered

Whatever you choose to do with you family, I am sure you will be teaching and making memories with your kids for years to come. I am living proof of that. My mother’s lessons are still here with me.