Good Friday Journey: Part 2

So, on we rushed to make it to the Veneration of the Cross. The kids did great through the long Passion reading and even allowed all of us to sit IN the church for the entire time, barring two trips to the bathroom.

As the time to venerate the cross came around, I tried to prepare the kids and draw their attention to what was going on. We have a larger than life Crucifix and it was covered by a large red cloth. The priest stood in front of it and sang, "This is the wood of the Cross, on which hung the weight of the world." We sang, "Come let us worship." He then pulled down the cloth from one arm. The process repeated with the other arm and then, after the third time, the cloth came off revealing the whole body of Jesus. It was very powerful.

We lined up to go forward and kiss the feet of Jesus. Because our parish is so big, one side goes to the large Crucifix and the other kisses the feet of Jesus on a smaller Crucifix held by the priest.

When Mackenzie noticed what was going on and realized that we were sitting on the side with the small Crucifix, she begged to go to the larger one to kiss the feet.
I could understand her desire and I asked Aiden if he wanted to do the same.

With the image of the Crucified Christ still so fresh in his mind, he wasn’t interested. "No Mama. He's gross. I don't want to kiss his feet."

Hmm...this could be a problem. "Aiden it's not really Jesus. It's a statue to remind us of him. It won't be gross to kiss those feet." He wasn't sure about that, but he was certain that he did NOT want to go to the larger Crucifix. My mom graciously agreed to take Mackenzie to the other side while I took the boys to our side.

As we filed into the line, Aiden would not walk in front of me. "Aiden, come on buddy," I begged, "it's time to kiss Jesus' feet."

"Mama, I don't want to kiss his yucky feet," he said in earnest with a worried look on his face.

Now I was thinking that drawing his attention to that bloody rendition during the Stations may not have been the best idea. "It will be okay," I whispered. "I'm going to kiss them."

"Mama, you kiss him first, then Dawson and then me," he instructed. I agreed.

When we finally reached the Cross, I bent down to kiss the feet and held Dawson up to do the same. He refused and there were too many people behind me to force the issue. I turned my attention to Aiden who had moved off to the side a bit.

"Come here Aiden," I begged, "it's your turn." He turned reluctantly. "You have to hurry buddy," I whispered.

He walked to the Crucifix, looked at it a moment and gave those feet the most precious kiss I have ever seen. It was the kind of kiss that puckered his lips and made a sound loud enough for the first two rows to hear. I was so proud of him.

Of course, after he saw Aiden do it, Dawson wanted to give it a shot but we had already started back to our pew. "I want to kiss Jesus," he begged over and over. I told him we could do it when the service was over.

One hour later the service ended, and being true to my word, I walked Dawson up front to the large Crucifix. When we got close, his little eyes gazed up at the giant before him and he clung tightly to my shirt.

"Okay Dawson go ahead and kiss his feet," I said. He was hesitant. By this time the altar servers were bringing out the candles to put beside the Crucifix. "If you want to do it, this is your chance. We have to go and let these people pray."

I lifted him up and he gave those feet a cute little kiss.

By the time we got back home it was already 4:45 pm. None of the work I really wanted to get done was finished. No sooner had that thought crossed my mind than the Lord reminded me that I had done the most important work of all - I had spent the day with Him.

We spent Saturday dying eggs, making the bunny cake and sweet potatoes for Sunday, cleaning the house and giving the Easter Story cookies a shot. I spent the night filling the baskets and ironing the clothes and cleaning up from the day. When I looked at my watch to see 1:30 a.m., I was overwhelming exhausted and disappointed at my inability to turn in at a descent hour.

It seemed that my journey was not yet over. My thoughts turned to the disciples as they hid in that room. They knew what Jesus had promised, but they were also remembering the sight of his body on the Cross. How could he possibly come back after that? They probably didn't get much sleep those few nights either. They probably tried to keep themselves busy while hoping they wouldn’t be caught and have to suffer the same fate.

I felt their apprehension. I felt their hope that Jesus would rise on the third day. By the time my head hit the pillow, I passed out from exhaustion and could do nothing more than look for tomorrow.

Four and a half short hours later, I was awakened by Mackenzie, who asked to get in bed with me. Ten minutes after that I heard the pitter patter of Aiden's feet approaching the bed. "Mama! Alleluia! Jesus rose from the dead today, and guess what? The Easter Bunny came too!" He was grinning from ear to ear.

It was hard to get out of bed, but how could I possibly turn down that face? I gathered the three of them up and went out to the kitchen to let them pillage through their baskets. After some chocolate for breakfast we all got dressed and made it to mass a whole fifteen minutes early (our own Easter miracle).

As I sat in church admiring the beauty of it dressed in its finest, my eyes were heavy but my heart was overjoyed. It's hard to describe but I can honestly say it's probably the first time I've ever FELT Easter the way it should be felt.

It was a long and hard Lent. The journey of Good Friday exhausted me emotionally and physically. I busied myself all day and night Saturday to prepare for Sunday. But Easter morning, as I let it all sink in, tears of joy filled my eyes. I truly rejoiced in the Resurrection in a way I have never been able to do before and it was beautiful.

As I type this now I still get a little teary thinking about it. I'm so glad the Easter season is long. It allows us the chance to relish in the joy of the season, look to the life ahead and be grateful that Lent is finally behind us.

I made it! Thank you Jesus! Alleluia!