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Saturday, March 28, 2020

Holy Week (at Home) Editable Schedule and Resources


Holy Week... at Home.
It's the last thing I would normally be recommending to families- usually I encourage everyone to attend as much of the Liturgy during Holy Week as possible.  But most of us will live through our first Holy Week without the Sacraments this year. As a teacher and a DRE, I am not only preparing my own heart, but also thinking about the families that I work to support.

So as I've be planning, this is what I've come up with. Holy Week and the Triduum are the most beautiful retreat Catholics are invited to partake in each year. Because of the suspension of public Masses in the US and across the world, the way we celebrate is obviously going to look very different. I decided to make a calendar of the week filled with ideas for each day that we can share with our families. We are blessed that the internet is filled with SO MANY incredible resources for liturgical living... but let's be honest, that can be overwhelming, especially if you are jumping in for the first time. I wanted to limit things down to a starting point for families, and offer activities that would work well for a variety of ages. I pulled together some of my favorites to go along with the Gospel Readings from this year and created a one page schedule to share with my students' families.

The schedule includes:
-Suggestions for Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday
-Spots to list recommendations for viewing Mass online (EWTN, local church, etc.)
-Suggested Scripture reading from the Gospel of the day
-List of FREE activities including:
   -Videos (all on YouTube or Formed, which has a free trial right now)
   -Simple craft
   -Coloring Page
   -Food/snack suggestion
   -Song or music playlist

I'm going to share this Holy Week Retreat schedule with you in an editable format (on Google Slides). You can make a copy or download it (use in Microsoft PowerPoint) and edit it to fit the needs of your home, classroom, parish, or school. Then save as a pdf and email out to anyone you like.

***UPDATE- Click here for a Spanish translation of the schedule shared from a blog reader!


As a companion resource for kids watching the Liturgies or reading the Gospels with their families, I also made this Holy Week Journal. It lists the name of the day, the Gospel to read, lines for journaling or copying a favorite verse, a question to think about, and a little bit of clip art to color. I picture it being copied single sided (which makes sense if parents are printing at home) and the blank back of each page being used as a space to draw a reflection or letter a Scripture card. The second page of the journal contains some suggestions/ideas for how to use it across a variety of ages.

Here's a preview of what the inside pages look like:

***UPDATE- And thanks to another reader, here is the Holy Week Journal in Spanish!

***And now in FRENCH too!
And Portuguese:

I know that your family might have other traditions or prayers or foods that you typically enjoy during this holiest of weeks. And that is awesome! That's one of the reasons I made this schedule editable. I just tried to pull together resources for people with limited supplies/time or who are overwhelmed with choices.

It's my hope that this schedule and journal makes planning for parents, teachers, and church leaders to be able to more easily send ideas to the families you work with. If you have any suggestions or great ideas that might help us all, please send them my way or add them in the comments. Despite "social distancing," I think that we all understand better than ever how reliant we are on one another. May God richly bless you and your loved ones during this Season!

48 comments:

  1. Hello This is excellent! There are a few links missing for Draw an Illustration on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Can you provide?

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    1. Hi Jaymes!
      Not missing, I just didn't find any good drawing videos for those themes. If you find something that works, let me know and I'll add it to the master copy!

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    2. Hi Katie, I will send you our version with the additions I made. Also, you inspired me - I am using your same format but making one for middle school and high schoolers. I will send you that when I am done!

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    3. One more thing - how do I send my version to you? Email or upload function here?

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    4. That's awesome! Yes, my target audience (both school and parish) was PK-8, but I'm excited to see what you found! You can email me at looktohimandberadiant (at) gmail.com. I'm happy to add it to the options! Thank you!

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  2. Thank you so much for this resource!

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  3. This is so wonderful!!! You are such an inspiration :)
    May I share this with my Youth Group Families?
    God Bless you!

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    1. Please do! That is exactly what it is for! :)

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  4. WOW! This is amazing. Thank you and God Bless!

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  5. As always, you are amazing! You are so generous in helping others to come to know and love the Lord. As a fellow educator, it is an honor and privilege to know you!

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  6. Thank you so very much! I always look forward to receiving new resources from you! God Bless!

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  7. Katie- Thank you for your incredible support with amazing resources during this difficult time! Praying for you. God bless,
    Sr. Stephanie

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  8. Thank you for sharing this. What a great resource.

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  9. This is an amazing resource! Thank you! I was looking into some similar resources for our Faith Formation classes and you have it all in one place! Thank you for all you do for families. We will use these ideas for my family as well!

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  10. This is wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing your gifts

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  11. You are amazing! Thank you thank you!

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  12. Thank you for these amazing resources . . . I have shared many of them with my FF families and will continue to do so. You are a blessing to my ministry!

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  13. This is such a gift to the Church! Thank you sincerely!!

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  14. Thank you from the bottom of my heart

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  15. Thank you SO much for making this. This will be wonderful for families to do since we will not be able able to attend church. Again, thank you so much!

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  16. Is the print in blue supposed to be links to the activities? If so, I can't seem to access them.

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    1. Yes, anything in blue is a link. Depending on the type of computer you are accessing them from, you might have to use ctrl+click or command+click? Feel free to email me at looktohimandberadiant (at) gmail.com and I can send it to you in another format or help further!

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  17. Thank you for sharing this! Would it be possible to share this in an article? If so, I would like to give full credit to you. If so, what contact information can I include?

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    1. Sure! Can you tell me where the article will be published? Please credit Katherine Bogner and include my website looktohimandberadiant.com. Thanks!

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    2. Of course, I would need to get it approved first by my Director, but it would be for the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal. We are coming up with ways to keep the youth engaged, and I think this would be perfect for Holy Week. https://miraculousmedal.org/faith-communities/youth-ministry/

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    3. Sounds incredible! Thanks for wanting to share it!

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    4. Of course! Thank you for the permission to post this! If I get the approval, I will definitely forward the link to you! :)

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    5. Hi Katie! My little article got approved and it was sent out this morning! We will also be adding it to the website this week! Thank you again for sharing this great resource! :)

      https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Journeying-through-Holy-Week-with-Your-Children.html?soid=1131775935626&aid=SkofzSUUk0k

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    6. And now its on the Miraculous Medal Shrine website: https://miraculousmedal.org/youth-ministry-articles/5-ways-to-journey-through-holy-week-and-easter-with-your-children/

      Thank you again for your permission! God bless you and your family!

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  18. Thank you SO much! Sharing with our parish families.

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  19. All I can say is I am forever thankful for all the resources you share so we, too, can share the riches of our faith!

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  20. Thank you so much for sharing your faith and creativity. I cannot tell you how my students benefit from it.

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  21. Hi Katie, thank you for these. It's lovely.
    God bless you for your efforts.

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  22. this is awesome - thank you! What do you mean by make a scripture card?

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    1. Basically they can just chose a favorite verse from the passage and copy it on a piece of paper or card to display- helps with memorization, prayer, etc.

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  23. This is absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!

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  24. This is a grace-filled packet. Thank you for what you are doing for our Lord and for all the students and catechists.

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  25. Thanks for this great resource and for all your awesome work! For anyone (teachers, homeschooling parents, etc.) looking for some more resources during this time of quarantine, I’d highly suggest checking out: www.CatholicReligionTeacher.com

    God bless and prayers for all!
    Greg

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  26. This is such an amazing resource! Thank you for putting it together & sharing it with us. Have a very blessed Holy Week & Easter!

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  27. Thank you so so much! I shared it with my adult Confirmation students. I hope you dont mind. Have a very blessed Holy week. God Bless you.

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  28. Thank you for your work. This will be such a blessing to my family!

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  29. Hi! I am a catechist in Florida and thanks to God´s grace I suddenly found this amazing blog! thank you for such beautiful resources. I look forward to sharing it with my families. May God keep blessing you and giving you such amazing ideas.

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  30. Your blog is wonderful! Thank you for sharing your gift with the world!!

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