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Showing posts from April, 2012

A Family Retreat for Good Friday

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A grown-up retreat for parents is difficult on Good Friday. But there are still things you can do with your children, small and large, to make Good Friday into a real retreat day for them, a quiet day to think of what Christ has done for you and for them. Here is what you can do. First off, prepare yourself interiorly. 1. Surrender your expectations. A family retreat may not necessarily involve long stretches of silence, uninterrupted meditations, or even a great degree of solemnity. Children are children, after all. A family retreat will look different and feel different from a retreat for adults. 2. Serve the weakest members. Anticipate that the smallest children (and older ones) will be hungry, grumpy, irate by an unexpected routine, or hyperactive. Bring along bottles of water and a bag of pretzels for snacking. Figure out a way to accommodate naps for smaller and older kids. Realize that you might also be grumpy from fasting. Scale down large expectations: settle for less.