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Family Corner: First Sunday of Lent
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March 7, 2025Lent is a rich season; it provides us a chance to go deeper into our practices of both giving and giving up. Learning and praying together as a family enhances our simpler meals. And the 40 days of Lent coincide with the lengthening days of Spring, enriching our patient waiting and preparing.
Here are some ideas to pray, eat, and work together.
Pray:
Our church teaches so much about Jesus’s life and especially, his Passion. It can help us learn to pray. Here’s how:
After Mass or during a special visit to Nativity Church, take children on a look and listen walk. Look closely at the art and architecture; “Listen” to what these features teach.
From the Stanford Avenue entrance, walk the center aisle. Notice the stained-glass windows along the western side, which depict the progress of the liturgical seasons through the year.
The window for Lent is just above the cross aisle. Spend some time looking at it: the image of Jesus is flanked by two other figures. The one on the left holds the shield of virtue, symbolizing our resistance to sin. The one on the right holds a frond of palm. This figure foreshadows Jesus’striumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and also reminds us to offer our good things in alms.
Then, as you reach the front of church, turn toward the Good Shepherd window in the Southwest corner. You will be just under the First Station. The carved oak depictions of Jesus’s 14 Stations are beautifully detailed. Each one tells a brief story, a moment in Jesus’s Way of the Cross.
You might join the liturgical Stations of the Cross prayer, offered each Friday of Lent following the 5:00 PM mass. However, we encourage families to walk and pray the stations together at any time during Lent.
Grown-ups can narrate some of the story, and children can take turns describing what they see in the station carving. It is easier, and perhaps more memorable, for wiggly children to walk the way of Jesus Christ while they are thinking and talking. And walking through the stations on both sides of the church reinforces the profound journey that Jesus walked.
In our church, the first stations are on the west side of the main church, and the last are on the east side. When we walk these stations, we walk with Him. At any station, but especially at the final one, pray spontaneously together. Invite children to offer their intentions. Ask Jesus to bless our families and be with us as we make our journey through Lent.
Eat:
In these weeks, we eat simply to focus spiritually: Here is an idea for a simple, meatless meal sure to please. It is perfect for a Friday or any weeknight evening in Lent.Betty Crocker’s “Incredibly Creamy” Cream of Potato Soup• 1 1/2 cups water• 5 medium potatoes, peeled and cut up• 1 medium celery stalk, sliced (1/2 cup)• 1/4 cup water• 1 cup milk• 3/4 teaspoon salt• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper• 2 green onions, thinly slicedHeat 1 1/2 cups water to boiling in 3-quart saucepan. Add potatoes and celery. Cover and heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.Drain liquid into blender. Remove 3 cups cooked vegetables from saucepan; place in blender with liquid. Add 1/4 cup water. Cover and blend about 1 minute until smooth.Stir pureed vegetables back into saucepan. Stir in remaining ingredients; heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until hot.This recipe is delicious with stir-ins like cheese or sunflower seeds or toasted pumpkin seeds. Serve with corn muffins or toast or a green salad.Do:
Plant seeds! The early days of Lent are perfect for planting seeds, and this is an activity children will enjoy! A traditional activity called the Resurrection Garden is one way to start seeds. This article offers some detailed instructions: kitchenparade.com/2007/02/observing-lent-with-children-lenten.php.
This Resurrection Garden can become part of the Easter Diorama we will give directions for during Holy Week.
But we say that planting any kind of seed in any kind of container is a good thing to do at the beginning of Lent!
Are you going to rays vegetables in a garden or on your patio? Start the seeds now.
Do you hope to have a planter with geranium or petunias? Start the seeds now.
Do you like cooking with parsley or cilantro? Plant the seeds now.
Choose seeds that your family will enjoy and plant them in good soil in any kind of container that allows water to drain. Watch the seeds sprout in the plants develop. As we get close to Holy Week, we will offer some ideas about integrating seedlings into a homemade Easter Diorama that children can build!
