Thursday of Holy Week was packed with so many important and heart wrenching things! It is where the Lord taught his apostles about the Sacrament, they partook in “The Last Supper”, He suffered for the sins of the world in Gethsemane and was betrayed and arrested. Scripture reading for this day can be found in Matthew chapter 26.
“The Last Supper” and the Sacrament:
As a family, on this day of Holy Week, we usually choose to have our own passover meal of sorts. We spread a blanket on the living room floor and have simple foods that would be similar to what they would have eaten for Passover (while still being foods my children will eat).
Some food ideas we like to have for our meal include:
- flat bread and hummus
- fried chicken (as the traditional meats for this meal would not appeal to my kids)
- grapes
- “bitter herbs” we usually just use Parsley or something similar
- a plain baked potato with salt water
- grape juice
- olives
Nothing fancy, you get the idea. You can find a lot of information online about this tradition and why the particular (and often bland) food choices. Use each food as an object lesson like in the traditional Passover meal, remembering the original Passover and the ancient Israelites.
He washed His Apostles feet…
How amazing it is that even as the weight of the world began to press upon Him, He was still serving others by washing His apostles feet. Such a beautiful reminder of charity, the pure love of Christ.
Some years, I have chosen to wash my children’s feet before bed on this day of Holy Week, while we talk about Jesus doing this for His apostles. Doing a family study on the word “Charity” would be very fitting for this day of Holy Week.
He suffered in Gethsemane…
As a way to help young children understand and engage with this important moment, and as a way to bring a secular easter tradition in and make it sacred, why not dye easter eggs red? This can be done with red food dye or with natural dyes like beets or onions. Using carnations or celery as an object lesson placed in water that has been dyed red is also a way this same concept can be demonstrated.
and was betrayed and arrested…
In our family we’ve never done an activity for this moment, I’m not sure what we would do. Preparing for our Passover meal takes most of our day, but we do read and talk about this moment.
Resurrection Egg for today:
Today’s Resurrection Egg is filled with any combination of the following:
- A saltine cracker (or piece of one)
- A Sacrament cup
- A small red bead
- Strip of paper reading “Matthew 26:36-57, Alma 7:11-12”
Leave a Reply