Jennifer Groft

Is it really over?

I mean: HAPPY EASTER!

I get so swept up in Lent, and especially in Holy week that I often have trouble remembering that the rest of the world continues as usual. It just comes as a bit of a shock to me that regular life keeps on going and people keep expecting other things from me, like non-church related things. I can usually shake off the shock pretty quickly when someone sends me an email asking me to do a job at school or something like it, but I always think it’s funny that these things catch me by surprise every single year.

You see, Lent is more busy for us than the Christmas season. Advent and Christmas are busy, but they don’t hold a candle to Lent, especially Holy Week.

My husband sings a lot of extra masses and liturgies, so he is gone a few more evenings a week (which means I handle bedtime, the second hardest hour of the day, second only to getting the kids ready for school.) I am involved in our parish’s RCIA program (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) and our really big deal – the Easter Vigil – is on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter.

I love what we do, and I am glad we are both able to participate in the life of the church at this time, but BOY can it get complicated! Generally I have an emotional meltdown on Good Friday. This year it happened on Monday of Holy Week, brought about by a nasty surprise on our taxes, but that is another topic for another day. It was enough of a melt down to just kind of sap my energy for the entire week. So I just took the rest of the week as slowly as I possibly could when we weren’t running around like crazy.

The week went something like this:
Monday – Jay sang at the Chrism Mass
Tuesday – I had a long rehearsal for the Easter Vigil with the RCIA and other groups receiving their sacraments.
Wednesday – Jay had an extra long rehearsal with choir
Thursday – Jay sang at the Holy Thursday Mass, here is where I just really decided to take this Holy Week slowly. I stayed home with the kids. I missed going, but I knew if I went it would really stress me out and I’d end up being really hard on the kids.
Friday – Jay was off from his regular job, so he came to the Stations of the Cross with us at lunchtime. Then we went home and he went back to the church to sing at the Good Friday Liturgy. In the evening we watched the last part of Jesus of Nazareth with the kids. (Fun part: When the Centurion said the words, “I am not worthy to receive you under my roof…” Lily, age 6, turned to us in astonishment and said, “We say that! In Mass!” It was really cute.)
Saturday  – I had a retreat most of the day and then helped set up for the reception hall for after Mass, then I was home for a couple hours, got ready and then Jay and I went back to the church. He set up for the outdoor sunrise Mass, and I helped get the RCIA and other groups ready for Mass. Taking attendance, lining people up, making sure all their sponsors were there… Then the Easter Vigil began at 8pm, and wasn’t over until 11! My jobs during the Vigil are mainly moving people for Baptism and Confirmation. It’s not hard, but it made even a 3 hour mass go quickly! Jay left pretty quickly after Mass was done and I worked the reception. I really and truly loved every minute of it.
Sunday – Jay sang six more Masses while I got the kids ready and out the door for our usual Mass time. We had a couple hours of family time in between the busyness.

By Monday after Easter, we were both just so tired and stretched. So I have to say that I have taken this week pretty slowly so far as well.

I didn’t do very well with my Lent – not in the way I planned anyway. In my disappointment for not doing some of the special “spiritual” things I had planned, especially for my family, I really struggled with a sense of failure. But amid the craziness of Holy Week, God sat me down and had a little heart to heart with me. I wasn’t failing in the manner I thought I was, but my attitude was really stinky, and I was very over attached to it. As a matter of fact, He is showing me over attachment in quite a few things right now. My attitude has become a bit like a gremlin, and I’ve been feeding it after midnight. I’m not going to make any crazy promises on how I am changing, but I think changes are in the works for me interiorly. I can see how the foundation has been laid down over the past few months, and now the real building has to begin.

Because of all this, as my Easter Season began, it felt a lot more like New Years. A new beginning, a new rising.

Halleluia! He is risen! And someday we will rise with Him too.

I thought this picture was especially fitting for my Lent and Easter:

Now I can genuinely say, Happy Easter. I hope this Easter Season will bless us in many ways!