Seder meal

A Seder meal is a Christian Passover. The Catholic Mass is modeled after the Seder Meal. After every Seder Meal I seem to have a better understanding of our mass, so I guess all of the work is worth it. I use a Seder celebration that I got off the Internet several years, it is a very structured celebration. We begin with the symbolic foods and then a meal and close with a blessing.

The symbolic foods are:

4 glasses of grape juice for the 4 promises God gave the Israelites; I will bring you out of Egypt, I will free you from slavery, I will save you by my own hand, and I will take you to be my people and I will be your God.

Parsley representing new life, salt water for their tears.

Matzoh the unleavened bread.

Horseradish (bitter herb) representing the bitterness in Egypt.

Haroset (chopped apples and walnuts with cinnamon and honey) representing the mortar used to make bricks.

Lamb bone representing the passover lamb.

Egg representing the offering brought to the temple. I have deviled eggs instead of boiled eggs because they are less messy.

For our meal we have lamb, mashed potatoes and gravy, noodles, creamed corn and for dessert carrot cake.

Part of the celebration is for the teacher to hide a piece of matzoh representing Jesus being hidden for 3 days. Whoever finds the hidden Matzoh gets a prize. Since I have new students each year I can use the same hiding place every year, which is in the tree with the serpent. The prize this year is jelly belly jelly beans.

The students enjoyed the celebration and did a wonderful job participating. Have a very blessed Easter.

The Spies

After spending about a year at Mt. Sinai, where Moses received the 613 laws that the Israelites were expected to follow it was time to enter the Promised land. So Moses sent 12 spies, one from each of the 12 tribes, to check out the land. They spied the land for forty days. When they returned to Moses everyone agreed that the land was flowing with milk and honey. They commented on how great were the figs, pomegranates and grapes. It actually took two people to carry the grapes on a pole they were so large. Even as they agreed on how great the land was all of the spies except for Caleb and Joshua thought the Canaanites were too fearful. They said the Israelites seemed liked grasshoppers next to them. Caleb and Joshua agreed the Canaanites were a fearful people but the Israelites had God on their side and He would help them attack the enemy. The Israelites decided that they would not march into Canaan. God was not happy with their decision and wanted to destroy them, but Moses interceded for them and God did not destroy the Israelites, but told them they would have to wander in the dessert for 40 years and only the young children would live to enter Canaan.

So for my treat tonight I have grapes, fig newtons and pomegranate juice. I sure am glad that Jesus came and died for me so I don't have to follow the 613 laws!

Manna in the desert

Reading about the Israelites reminds me of my children when they were bored, no matter you had for them to do, they complained. I'm sure Moses got pretty tired of hearing the Israelites complain. Two months after they had left Egypt they were complaining they had nothing to eat. So Moses asks God for his help; he sent quail in the evening and manna in the morning. Manna were sticky white flakes with a sweet taste. Because it tasted like wafers the Israelites called it "bread from heaven." They were only to collect enough for one day, so they would learn to trust God that he would supply their needs every day. The day before the Sabbath they were to collect enough for that day and the Sabbath.

So for my treat, the stickiest thing I could think of was marshmallow cream. So I made sticky rice Crispy treats with speckled eggs to represent quail eggs. I know the speckled eggs are stretching the quail a bit, but my daughter is due any day and I wanted to plan something easy in case I need to make a quick trip to see my new grand baby!

Penance service

Tonight we are having a penance service and we will be in church the whole evening so I did not make a snack. Tomorrow is half way through lent and I was thinking about two of the things I gave up. I gave facebook up for lent and at first I really missed it, but I am missing it less each week. During the time that I would have checked facebook I am reading the book of Sirach. It is one of my favorite books and it is so full of wisdom that I need to hear. I also turned my radio off in the car and since I am usually alone when I am going somewhere it gets pretty lonesome. But I find myself paying more attention to the surroundings, and it brings to mind peoples needs, which causes me to pray for those needs. Have a good week!

Part 2 of The Prince of Egypt and The Annunciation

The second part of the prince of Egypt focuses on the Exodus. On this important night, the Israelites gathered as God had told them to. Each family sprinkled the blood of a sacrificial lamb on the doorposts of their house. Then the families prepared and ate roasted lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They ate with their sandals on their feet and their staffs in their hands, ready for flight.

Friday, March 25 is the feast day of The Annunciation of our Lord. In Luke's Gospel, we read that the angel Gabriel came to Mary and asked her to be the Mother of Jesus. When Mary said yes to God, Jesus was formed in her womb, and she became a mother-one who nourishes, protects, cares for, and most of all loves her children. A herb associated with Mary is the one that bears her name-rosemary.

So for my treat I made unleavened bread with rosemary.

St. Patrick

St. Patrick had two solid qualities about him, was a humble and he was courageous. At sixteen he was captured by pirates and sold as a slave to a chief in Ireland. After six years a voice from heaven told him to go back to his own country. But first he went to Rome, where he became a priest. He was then sent to England, but after some time he begged the Pope to send him to Ireland. The Pope made him a bishop and then sent him as a missionary to Ireland.

One of the pagan kings of Ireland arrested Patrick. When he saw the miracles worked by Patrick, he said, "Tell us about your God. He has given you great power."

"There is but one God," answered Patrick, "in three Persons; the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit." Picking up a green shamrock he said "Even as there are three leaves on this one stem, so there are three persons in one God." After that he was allowed to preach the new Faith everywhere in Ireland.

My treat tonight is cake with green sprinkles and some green juice.

Shrove Tuesday

Lent is a time of self-discipline and denial. Throughout the 40 days of Lent, people are called to fasting, almsgiving and prayer. But the week preceding Lent has become a time of merrymaking, culminating on Shrove Tuesday, or Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent begins.

The name Shrove Tuesday comes from the custom of ringing the "shriving bell" to summon the people to church to be "shriven," that is to confess their sins at the beginning of Lent. At that time, certain foods were given up for the duration of Lent. Those foods included eggs, milk, meat, and rich buttery dishes. On Shrove Tuesday, families ate up all the rich foods left in their pantries. One way they used up the eggs, milk and fats in the house was to add flour to make special pancakes. In England, the popularity of the pancakes caused Shrove Tuesday to be called Pancake Day, and festivities surrounded the eating of pancakes, including pancake races.

So my treat tonight is pancakes.