Getting Ready for Easter - Are you ready? - Sister Lois Prebil - Saturday, April 12, 2025
By Mary Mosser, FSC Associate
The opening prayer to start our day was To Be the Best in Our Souls from the book Talking to God by Rabbi Naomi Levy. Each person had been given a folder that contained several handouts and a Lent 2025 reflection book. One handout was titled Memories of Lent, Holy Week and Easter. Sr. Lois asked us to fill out the sections for Lent. Each section had a blank line for a word or phrase to describe that period of time and a larger blank space to write our memories. After some time for quiet reflection, several people shared their memories of Lent and Holy Week.
When I was growing up, Lent seemed long and predictable. My family never ate meat on Friday, so that part of Lent was no different for us. Growing up, I tried to give up something during Lent, like candy. One memory that came to mind was collecting change for the poor during Lent. In grade school, our teachers gave us a small container (like a milk carton) designed to hold the change we were collecting. This was a tangible way to learn about giving alms during Lent.
Talking to God
by Rabbi Naomi Levy
Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem (1320)
by Pietro Lorenzetti
Next, we prayed A Lenten Prayer, then Sr. Lois asked us to read the handout titled Fasting and Feasting and choose one or two things that we would like to work on during the final week of Lent. The fasting examples were bad habits or faults. The feasting examples were positive spiritual improvements. Below are the two that caught my eye.
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Let us fast from overdoing…and feast on time for prayer.
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Let us fast from constant chatter…and feast on purposeful silence.
For Palm Sunday, the passage from Luke 19: 28-40 was read, which is about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. In verse 39, pharisees in the crowd ask Jesus to rebuke his disciples. Sr. Lois stressed verse 40 to the group which says, “even the stones will cry out if they keep silent”. Even if humanity were silenced, creation would cry out in praise of Jesus.
For Holy Thursday, we listened to Ken Yasinski’s presentation called God’s Response to the Treachery of Men. Ken Yasinski talked about how Jesus knew at the Last Supper that his apostles would betray Him, deny Him and abandon Him. Ken Yasinski imagined what Jesus was thinking as He washed the feet of each apostle. For example, when Jesus washed John’s feet, He may have been thinking, “I love this man. I love these feet. These feet have seen me transformed in my glory.” When Jesus washed Peter’s feet, He may have been thinking, “I love this man. I love these feet. These feet have done something that no other feet have done. They’ve walked on water.”
After Ken Yasinski’s video, we did a hand washing ceremony with small hand sanitizers. We washed the hands of the person next to us at our table saying to them; “I love this woman/I love this man. I love these hands” and added a blessing of our own.
After Ken Yasinski’s video, we did a hand washing ceremony with small hand sanitizers. We washed the hands of the person next to us at our table saying to them; “I love this woman/I love this man. I love these hands” and added a blessing of our own. For Good Friday, we did a Short Way of the Cross. Each of the 14 stations had a prayer, a question to answer or statement to reflect on and a response for the group. The First Station from the Short Way of the Cross is below.
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First Station, Jesus is Condemned to Death.
O Jesus! So meek and uncomplaining, teach me resignation in trials.
Question: What is one painful experience I will give to Jesus?
Response: Lord Jesus, help us walk in Your steps.
Jesus at Herod's Court (1310)
by Duccio,
Sr. Lois explained that for Holy Saturday we were to read the Holy Saturday reading from the booklet that was in our folder (Return to me with all your heart – Reflections for Lent 2025) and spend some time reflecting on that reading. The Holy Saturday reading contained questions to assess our Lenten journey. Some of the questions were: How well did we fast, pray and give alms? For whom did we pray? What relationships did we rekindle? How often did we go to God’s word for affirmation, encouragement, sustenance?
After we regrouped, Sr. M. Bernadette read the Easter Gospel from Luke 24: 1-12. The story of Jesus’ Resurrection is the center of our faith. Next, each table received a part of the Resurrection story from the Gospel of Matthew, Mark or Luke to act out for the other tables of Associates and Sisters.
When we finished, we had an Easter egg hunt in Marian Hall. Once we found an egg, we could help someone else who hadn’t found one. Inside each egg was a wood cross and the prayer The Cross in my Pocket. Sr. Lois finished her presentation with a prayer and displayed pictures of chicks, butterflies, bunnies and other examples of new life.
Resurrection of Christ (1700) by
Noël Coypel
During our group day, we touched on each piece of Lent, Holy Week and Easter. The season of Lent can challenge us and helps us to grow as followers of Christ. My favorite part of our day was the Holy Saturday reflection where I answered the questions about my Lenten journey.
Before Lent started, each Associate was given two reflection books from the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago for the season of Lent. This year, I made a commitment to read the daily reflections from those books at the beginning of each day. Starting my day with daily reflection connected me with Scripture and gave me the entire day to contemplate the reflection topic, prayer and meditation from the books. I was happy with the results of my Lenten commitment and plan to continue this practice of morning reflection after Easter.