Holy Saturday 2017

On Holy Saturday, our parish assembles 1,300 meals for the homeless, and my contribution for the last five years or so has been to organize the children in making the cards that each person receives. What began as a way to occupy the young children of the adults working in the kitchen has become an activity in its own right and a great way for an entire family to provide service to the less fortunate.

This year, I estimated fifty children and their mothers helped assemble the 1,300 handmade cards in 90 minutes. Wonderful work, everyone!

Afterward, we took the family for lunch at a drive-through so we could be back in time for the Blessing of Baskets at noon (click here for the traditional food symbols).

Thirteen baskets for blessings

I was intending to make a festive holiday meal for Holy Saturday, but those plans went awry because John (and, thus, Daddy and Mary) had to be at altar boy practice at 4:30, and wouldn't be home till around midnight. It is a new and unforeseen phase of family life that we're starting to have some different schedules: if one has an altar server son, he's going to be at church during many hours over the Holy Triduum, and all those are hours that the whole family isn't together doing its own traditions. Next year, I won't be blindsided by this and will have to figure out new ways to celebrate.

I didn't end up making a nice dinner at all, but share my intended recipe for my future reference:

Intended Holy Saturday Dinner:

• Ham
• Fettucine Alfredo
• Rice Pilaf
• Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Sour Cream Pound Cake served with Strawberries and Whipped Cream

I did go ahead and serve the cake to those of us at home!

Chris and the two oldest children attended the traditional Easter Vigil Mass from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. while I tucked in littles for bed and did Mommy Easter preparations.

Mary reports that she didn't even want to read the books she took along, but sat and watched the altar boys practicing all those hours, and then that she wasn't tired during the Mass. John reports that he got to be torchbearer and that the pizza brought in for the boys before Mass was 'awesome!'

Meanwhile back at home, I prepared for my big day of Easter duties by lying awake and worrying uselessly till after midnight, thus getting nothing accomplished except making myself tired. My fellow chronic insomniacs will 'get it'!