I usually keep a fairly up to date journal but lately my little leather journal has taken the back burner. I know people have been blogging for years and maybe blogging is old news but it sounds like a pretty good way to keep some sort of journal for myself and "keep in touch" with my loved ones. I've been meaning to write in my journal about this past Easter and thought "Hey...this might be the perfect time to start my blog!"
Easter...a time to really embrace Christ's Love and the message of New Beginnings. So today...I start my new blog!
The other night Juan told me he thinks Easter might be his favorite holiday. What?! I really didn't see that coming. Juan's new found love for Easter made me reflect...
Easter really does hold a very special place in my heart for many reasons (1) I received my first communion and was confirmed in the Catholic Church Easter of 2009, it was a truly life changing journey going through RCIA and becoming a part of the Catholic Church (2) Last Easter I officially met the 2nd love of my life, Miss Gisele Martinez. (3) Hello Raquel...we are celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are celebrating the Eucharist! How did I not realize how special Easter is?! Thank you for opening my eyes Juan.
Juan and I started reflecting on the past couple weeks and all of the wonderful things we did and learned. We truly had an amazing 2 weeks leading up to Easter Sunday, it brings me to tears just to think how truly blessed we are.
To warm up for our Easter celebrations we did some Easter crafts, slowly purchased special Easter gifts for Gisele's basket, went Easter dress shopping with Gisele (who is going through a very girly stage and LOVES dresses) and I did a little Easter egg toy filler shopping (I had far too much fun picking out cute little Easter knick-knacks). Then we really kicked it off when we took Abuelita Cecile (Juan's mom) to our Church for the first time. Celebrating Palm Sunday with Juan, Gisele and his mom at Corpus Christi was really special.
But wait...it doesn't stop there. We decided to get the kiddos together and have an early Easter egg hunt since we knew Gisele would be with her mom this Easter. Linda and I prepared the eggs ahead of time. My eggs were toy filled and hers were candy filled. Linda, Armond, Roxanne, Uncle Steve, Angelina, Gracie, Kiana, Abuelita Cecile, Juan, Gisele and I showed up Pre-Easter Sunday morning at the Rowland Ranch to celebrate with my dad, Allison, Cole and Christian. Juan and I brought the tortillas and carne asada, Linda brought the fixings and chips, and of course Allison was prepared with all kinds of special treats. The kids had a blast running through the field, searching for eggs, jumping on the trampoline and of course eating some of their Easter candy. We adults had a wonderful time as well, taking joy in the kids' excitement and soaking up the beautiful Spring Day!
Overall our Pre-Easter weekend was pretty awesome! It was a great balance of Church, family and friends! Then Holy Week began...much to my excitement Juan attended all three days of the Easter Triduum. We both love our Church and little community at Corpus Christi; after taking my class and meeting some wonderful parishioners I really enjoy seeing a few of my classmates smiling faces at Church.
Anyways, Holy Thursday we went to the 7pm mass at Corpus Christi and sat close to my friend Glenda who runs the RCIA program. I always love watching the washing of the feet, such a great reminder that we are all equal, we should all strive to be Christ like, love and take care of one another. That evening Juan and I decided we would start a new tradition and wash each other's feet every Holy Thursday. It was a really special night, one that I will never forget.
I'll have to admit we both struggled getting through Friday (especially me). I am not the friendliest when I am hungry but I tried with all my might to keep a smile on my face; I'm of the mindset that if you are going to fast you should do it with a smile and purpose and keep your complaints and grumpiness to yourself. Juan was very patient with me and to my excitement he picked me up on my lunch break and drove us to mass. We decided to go to a nearby Church that we attended on Ash Wednesday (St. Gregory the Great). It was a very long mass (much longer than I ever remember it being) but it did its job setting the tone and really making us reflect on the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. Still one of the most powerful traditions is the passing of the cross...gets me every time! To watch the elderly, children (think the kids got to Juan) and people from all walks of life work together to pass the Cross and leave their sins on the Cross was beautiful. The intercessory prayers can seem boring, up and down up and down but we tried to pray them together along with the Parishioners of St. Gregory, putting in special intentions for each prayer between the two of us. It truly is a beautiful thing, all of the Catholics from all around the world, getting together on Good Friday praying the same prayers for the Church, the entire world, Christians and non-Christians.
Holy Saturday...Father Pat has been warning us the past couple weeks, "remember this is a very long mass, 2.5+ hours, be mindful of this if you are planning on bringing your children." I think Juan wanted to run the other way after hearing that week after week. I promised him it is a beautiful mass; one that I hold very close to my heart. It was only a few years ago that I was confirmed on Holy Saturday. In the end we both went and we are so glad that we did. Some highlights include the passing of Christ's light through the dark Church, watching little ones and even some older ones get baptized, first communions and watching 56 people get confirmed in the Catholic Church (YES...56 at Corpus Christi! Amazing!). It was a VERY special night, we even hung around after 11pm (yes we were there over 3 hours) and chatted with some friends. Looking back, I couldn't have asked for a better two week Easter celebration. Celebrating an Easter like that really opened my eyes and helped me realize what is truly important and that Easter just might be my favorite holiday too! I love you Juan! Thank you for being such a special part of my life and really embracing this Easter season.
Easter...a time to really embrace Christ's Love and the message of New Beginnings. So today...I start my new blog! The other night Juan told me he thinks Easter might be his favorite holiday. What?! I really didn't see that coming. Juan's new found love for Easter made me reflect...
Easter really does hold a very special place in my heart for many reasons (1) I received my first communion and was confirmed in the Catholic Church Easter of 2009, it was a truly life changing journey going through RCIA and becoming a part of the Catholic Church (2) Last Easter I officially met the 2nd love of my life, Miss Gisele Martinez. (3) Hello Raquel...we are celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are celebrating the Eucharist! How did I not realize how special Easter is?! Thank you for opening my eyes Juan.
Juan and I started reflecting on the past couple weeks and all of the wonderful things we did and learned. We truly had an amazing 2 weeks leading up to Easter Sunday, it brings me to tears just to think how truly blessed we are.
To warm up for our Easter celebrations we did some Easter crafts, slowly purchased special Easter gifts for Gisele's basket, went Easter dress shopping with Gisele (who is going through a very girly stage and LOVES dresses) and I did a little Easter egg toy filler shopping (I had far too much fun picking out cute little Easter knick-knacks). Then we really kicked it off when we took Abuelita Cecile (Juan's mom) to our Church for the first time. Celebrating Palm Sunday with Juan, Gisele and his mom at Corpus Christi was really special.
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| Easter Crafts: Silly Bunnies and Crazy Eyes Cotton Ball Bunny |
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| Dress shopping bike ride. Palm Sunday with Abuelita! Easter Basket! |
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Anyways, Holy Thursday we went to the 7pm mass at Corpus Christi and sat close to my friend Glenda who runs the RCIA program. I always love watching the washing of the feet, such a great reminder that we are all equal, we should all strive to be Christ like, love and take care of one another. That evening Juan and I decided we would start a new tradition and wash each other's feet every Holy Thursday. It was a really special night, one that I will never forget.
I'll have to admit we both struggled getting through Friday (especially me). I am not the friendliest when I am hungry but I tried with all my might to keep a smile on my face; I'm of the mindset that if you are going to fast you should do it with a smile and purpose and keep your complaints and grumpiness to yourself. Juan was very patient with me and to my excitement he picked me up on my lunch break and drove us to mass. We decided to go to a nearby Church that we attended on Ash Wednesday (St. Gregory the Great). It was a very long mass (much longer than I ever remember it being) but it did its job setting the tone and really making us reflect on the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. Still one of the most powerful traditions is the passing of the cross...gets me every time! To watch the elderly, children (think the kids got to Juan) and people from all walks of life work together to pass the Cross and leave their sins on the Cross was beautiful. The intercessory prayers can seem boring, up and down up and down but we tried to pray them together along with the Parishioners of St. Gregory, putting in special intentions for each prayer between the two of us. It truly is a beautiful thing, all of the Catholics from all around the world, getting together on Good Friday praying the same prayers for the Church, the entire world, Christians and non-Christians.
Holy Saturday...Father Pat has been warning us the past couple weeks, "remember this is a very long mass, 2.5+ hours, be mindful of this if you are planning on bringing your children." I think Juan wanted to run the other way after hearing that week after week. I promised him it is a beautiful mass; one that I hold very close to my heart. It was only a few years ago that I was confirmed on Holy Saturday. In the end we both went and we are so glad that we did. Some highlights include the passing of Christ's light through the dark Church, watching little ones and even some older ones get baptized, first communions and watching 56 people get confirmed in the Catholic Church (YES...56 at Corpus Christi! Amazing!). It was a VERY special night, we even hung around after 11pm (yes we were there over 3 hours) and chatted with some friends. Looking back, I couldn't have asked for a better two week Easter celebration. Celebrating an Easter like that really opened my eyes and helped me realize what is truly important and that Easter just might be my favorite holiday too! I love you Juan! Thank you for being such a special part of my life and really embracing this Easter season.
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| St. Gregory. Holy Saturday. Corpus Christi. |
2 comments:
I LOVED reading thus Raquel! Very beautiful and brought tears to my eyes. I have been wanting to do a blog as well after my surgery- maybe soon. You are truly an amazing woman and follower of Christ. I couldn't be More happy an proud of you. I can't wait to follow your life moving forward I hope you keep up on this blog :-) miss you! Lylas still:-) xoxo
Thanks Ash! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Easter was really special this year (as you can tell haha). You should definitely start a blog. I remember peer editing some of your papers in high school and I always enjoyed your work! It would be great to hear about the girls too. LYLAS!
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