Comments on: Holy Week Awareness

By: By Common Consent » Zeitcast #7

By Common Consent » Zeitcast #7 — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:29:34 +0000

[...] Thick Mormons at Easter [...]

By: Abigail

Abigail — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:42:52 +0000

This completely describes for me also how I felt yesterday. Not once during sacrament, sunday school or relief society was Christ’s atonement mentioned. Yes we sang the right songs, but besides that it was not mentioned and I wondered why we, Latter-Day Saints, don’t focus on the real reason for Easter. But I plan to change that in my family, next year my daughter will be old enough to understand a bit more, so I will definately start there. Thank you for telling a bit about Good Friday and having links that will help me come up with ideas to make Easter and holy week more meaningful in my family!

By: Emily M.

Emily M. — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:00:49 +0000

Thanks, everyone who responded today! It’s great to read your thoughts. I also agree with Barbara that there is much “lovely, of good report, and praiseworthy” in the practice of Easter in Catholicism. And I have never been to an American Easter Sacrament meeting that did not focus on Easter in some way… I think it must be a matter of not looking at the calendar and connecting the dots. Maybe it seems too obvious to do this, but it might be nice to get a First Presidency letter encouraging wards to focus on the Savior in our Sacrament meetings. It just makes me sad to read stories like Barbara’s and Angie’s, where people come to church on Easter expecting to hear about the Savior and leave disappointed.

I also love what Adri said about making it a goal to read Jesus the Christ before Easter. I think each of us has a personal responsibility to bring the Savior to our Easter, and your idea, as well as others mentioned here, have given me inspiration for next year.

By: Adri

Adri — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:15:20 +0000

Thanks for the links. Last year was the most Christ-centered Easter I’d ever experienced. I had made a commitment on January 1st to read “Jesus The Christ” before Easter. As it was approaching, I decided to “save” the chapters about the last week of Christ’s life to read on the corresponding days leading up to Easter. It was particularly wonderful to wake up Easter morning and read about the Resurrection.

By: Angie

Angie — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:14:44 +0000

I have had lovely Christ-centered Church experiences on Easter, and I have had years when nothing was done to even acknowledge the day. Once, when I was estranged from the Church, my family talked me into attending Easter services. The topic of the day was Joseph Smith, and that helped to solidify my misconception that Mormons weren’t really Christian. I don’t know why those oversights happen here in America. Do leaders forget to check the calendar when scheduling speakers and lessons?

We have done the passover dinner as a family. I love the idea of expanding that to a week of traditions. I need to check out that book.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:40:35 +0000

Yesterday (Easter Sunday) the first speaker in my ward discussed Thanksgiving and read several scriptures from the Book of Mormon. She never acknowledged that it was Easter. The second speaker, an Iranian convert from Islam, discussed personal revelation. He’s a humble, delightful man, and he told faith-promoting stories, but not necessarily Easter. I sat there in dismay. I too had “holy week envy” and wished someone had discussed Easter. I teach at a Catholic school and Easter is a VERY big deal. Last Wednesday morning a former student passed me in the hallway and said, “Dr. Bishop–you’re going to church today aren’t you? It’s Holy Week.” I thanked her for the reminder and attended Mass a few hours later. The entire service was devoted to expressions of gratitude for the atonement. In our ward, we have members whose husbands come once or twice a year. I was embarrassed that their biannual attendance was marked by complete indifference to the holy day we supposedly celebrate. We CAN do better. I’m sure of it. We believe that “if there is anything lovely or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” I find much that is lovely, of good report and praiseworthy in the practice and celebration of Easter in Catholicism. We need to seek after that which is true and right in other religions so that we can better celebrate Christ. Thanks for your thoughtful post Emily.

By: Jennie W.

Jennie W. — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:13:05 +0000

I went to mail something at the post office on Friday and the guy in line in front of me said to the clerk, “I can’t believe you have to work on Good Friday!” The clerk just said something about separation of church and state, but I thought it was odd that the guy would assume that Good Friday was such a big deal. I guess it should be. It’s not like there’s way too much Jesus in everyone’s life, and we don’t need to be reminded of Him. I think it would be nice to play Holy Week up a bit more in our church. Kind of like the advent.

By: imp

imp — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 01:03:36 +0000

thank you, emily – and i realize i didn’t even thank you for your well written and thoughtful post.
xoimp

By: Dalene

Dalene — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 05:39:28 +0000

Excellent post Emily. I really had no idea because this wasn’t something taught in my home, either, but I hope to try some of these ideas as well. (You know, because teenagers are so open to stuff like that *wink*). Seriously though, I do see the value and I want to help my kids be more aware and more prepared. Thanks!

By: Emily M.

Emily M. — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 05:08:07 +0000

Thanks everyone for your comments (Mara, I knew you’d like the links ). Nanajan, we had a Savior-centered FHE this week, but did not do much on any other day. As my kids get older, though, I’d love to incorporate eljee’s fabulous ideas. I think my kids would enjoy a Jerusalem dinner, or experiencing a Passover.
IMP, thanks so much for your comments. I can see how the absence of Holy Week as a Mormon would be saddening. I took a world religion class at BYU from a man who used to be a Presbyterian minister, and he discussed in class how he missed the Holy Season and the traditional Christian calendar as well. Even though we do not honor Holy Week as other faiths do (and I think Nate Oman’s post, linked above, does a good job of explaining why that might be), I believe it’s important for us to learn about and respect the traditions of other faiths, particularly when they center around the Savior. As you say, that kind of respect builds bridges.