Part of the beauty of faith, of Catholicism, of our Church, is that it’s not a one-day event or place. Our faith shapes us into the people we are.
As we journey through life, we keep the Church within us in our daily actions. The traditions we bring into our home draw us closer to God and open the door for the liturgical seasons to be reflected in every part of our lives. Our homes are called to be domestic sanctuaries of the Church and liturgical living brings this intention to our door. Liturgical living does not need to be some grand display or immediate all-encompassing change. As I have started my own journey to include more liturgical living in my life, one central theme I have noticed is this: start small, but start meaningfully.
If the goal is to celebrate the liturgical seasons in our homes as richly as we celebrate them at mass, then the traditions we include should help us feel closer to Christ and enable us to more deeply follow Him. We can ensure Liturgical celebrations are special if we bring actions into our home to make these days notable.
Before I even knew the phrase, or realized the importance of them, my family’s traditions always made Good Friday seem different than other days. While I was growing up, my house was always filled with laughter and music and TV picnics. Fridays were pizza night and that meant relaxing together and watching a movie. Good Friday was not a pizza night. Technology was off, our phones put away, the TV silent, our game console left alone. There was the occasional interruption, but only in the form of worship songs or, when I was younger, if we watched the movie Jesus of Nazareth.
My parents knew that we needed to bring our celebration of Good Friday into our home. It wasn’t enough to just fast or go to mass. They wanted my siblings and I to understand why this day was so important and to keep God at the center of our day. Over time we have added more traditions, but the goal has always been the same: to keep this day special, and to unite our family in our liturgical worship.
It’s a small sacrifice, but a meaningful one. For the fasting makes the feast even more beautiful.
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Author: Teresa Ell
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