Semana Santa (Holy Week)

I bet my Holy Week has been very different than yours this year!  It has been very different for me from Holy Weeks in the past.  One difference is, of course, the children.  The ratio of adults to children at all services is turned upside down.  Another difference is the almost total absence of the "trappings" (and I mean that in the most reverent way. I love all the trappings that go along with church.  I am among the few who love incense for example!)  To me, the biggest difference is the atmosphere.  The whole season of Lent and this week have not been a time of somber reflection, of focus on the pain and suffering of Jesus leading up to and during the crucifixion, or that feeling of emptiness after the Good Friday service - identifying with the apostles' devastation when their Messiah died, not knowing what comes next.  Nope.  I can't seem to evoke those feelings here.  I can't escape the idea that we are living in the midst of the Resurrection every day.  The Children's Home is because Jesus rose.

Maundy Thursday service - foot washing (the grownups washed the children's feet) and sharing of the last supper.

Evelyn	Jose Santos
Baptism candidates		Altar stripped for Good Friday

Good Friday - Suzy led us through the Via Cruces (Stations of the Cross). Mirza, Julio and some others had colored the image for each station.  Each station was on a different part of the campus with Daniel leading the group with the cross that Jorge had made.  A child read the narrative and Suzy asked reflective questions at each station.  The weather was appropriately overcast.