Lent At Home: Daily Stories and Activities for Holy Week

We are sharing weekly Scripture and rituals to observe Lent at home. You can follow the series on the blog and/or download the full Lent At Home worship guide here.

Palm Sunday, March 28

• Story Prompt: Read Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-40 (Shine On page 249). Notice the differences and similarities in the telling of the Triumphal Entry.
• Activity Prompt: Hosanna parade
  • Make or find your own palm branch. Use a branch from a tree growing
    where you live, or create one out of fabric or paper.
  • Do your own palm processional around your home – or take it outside
    and give the neighbors something to talk about!

 

Monday, March 29

• Story Prompt: Read Matthew 21:12-13 and John 7:53-8:11 (Shine On pages 250 and 252). These stories include anger and condemnation. Notice Jesus’ behavior in both situations.
• Activity Prompt: Create art out of stones or rocks. Turn what could be a tool of violence into a thing of beauty.

 

Tuesday, March 30

• Story Prompt: Read Mark 12:41-44. (Shine On page 257).
  We often read this as Jesus saying we should give all we have like the widow did. But another interpretation is that Jesus was saying a system that required her to give all she had while others only gave a little of their abundance is a corrupt system. What do you think?
• Activity Prompt: Give something away.

 

Wednesday, March 31

• Story Prompt: Read Matthew 25:31-46 (Shine On page 258). How does it change the way you look at the people around you if you see them as Jesus?
• Activity Prompt: Open your eyes to Jesus around you. Feed, clothe, safely visit, or welcome someone.

 

Maundy Thursday, April 1
Find a full Maundy Thursday ritual of foot washing followed by a meal in the Lent at Home materials. If you choose only to light your candle, pray and read the scriptures, the scriptures are given here for you.

• Foot Washing Story Prompt: Read John 13:3-20. (Shine On page 260).
• Last Supper: Read Matthew 26:17-30. (Shine On page 264).

 

Good Friday, April 2

• Story Prompt: Read Matthew 26:36-27:54 or Shine On page 267.
• Activity Prompt: Blow out your final Lent candle. “Shroud” it (cover it with a cloth), and say, “It is finished.”

 

Saturday, April 3

• Story Prompt: Read Matthew 27:55-66 or Shine On page 269.
• Activity Prompt: When Jesus died, the light of the world went out. Don’t turn on any lights today.

 

Easter Sunday Ritual, April 4

• Wake up just before dawn. Check to see what time sunrise is in your area, and get your household up 10-15 minutes before sunrise.
• Grab your Bible, bundle up, and go outside. If you aren’t able to go outside where you live, go to an east-facing window.
• Turn on the Easter morning playlist and watch for the sunrise.
• Read John 20:1-18 as the sun comes up. Read it a couple of times, maybe taking turns reading it or acting out the story. This story is on page 270 of  Shine On: A Story Bible, but it would be good to read it at least once from the book of John!
• Celebrate! Make some noise, sing a song, dance, run laps around your yard. Get silly and joyful in whatever way works for you!
• When you go back inside, take the shroud off your candles and light them. Turn on the lights in the house.

Other Ideas for Easter Sunday Activities

• Go on a “new life” treasure hunt around your yard. Take pictures or field notes, or draw the signs of new life you see.
• Taste of Easter: Here are a few ideas of things you can eat today in your celebration.
  • Resurrection Rolls: As you make these, tell the story of Jesus’ body being prepared for burial, then placed in a tomb. When they come out of the oven, marvel at the empty tomb. Here is a recipe using store-bought dough, but you can also make them with regular homemade bread dough.
  • Eggs: Eggs are a symbol of fertility, and Christian tradition also sees them as a
    symbol of new life.
  • Look up “Easter food” on Wikipedia to find all kinds of Easter foods from around the world!