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Holy Week will soon be upon us and it's not too late to start a new tradition. Here is a wonderful idea from Noël Piper that is simple, creative and meaningful. You can easily include the whole family in this activity.
The Resurrection Tree is a bare branch, broken from a bush in the back yard, just as the Jesus Tree was. On its twigs we hang symbols that remind us of the Crucifixion and Resurrection and things that point us toward the names and facets of Jesus that are related especially to his sacrifice for our redemption.... Perhaps those discoveries will occur as we consider the state of our relationship with Jesus and our understanding of the salvation he offers us. Reading the gospel accounts of his last days (Matthew 21—28;
Mark 11—16; Luke 19—24; John 11—21) will be essential for this consideration. Like the symbols on Advent’s Jesus Tree, most of these objects won’t be ornaments but small toys and household items that we “re-create.”
She also provides a list of possible symbols to include on the tree:
- Donkey
- Palm branches or ferns as miniature
- Palms
- Grapes and wheat or loaf and cup
- Towel and bowl of water
- Coins or money bag
- Torches or lanterns
- Chalice
- Rooster
- Pitcher and bowl (Pilate washing hands of responsibility)
- Crown of thorns
- Hammer and nails
- Cross
- Spear
- Colors (perhaps using cloth swatches or beads)
- Purple (passion and mourning, as well as the robe placed on Jesus in mockery
- Red (suffering, Christ’s blood)
- White (Christ’s purity and innocence)
- Black (the heaviness of sin and grief)
- Gold (paradise, promised to the thief next to Jesus and to everyone who trusts him)
(
Treasuring God in Our Traditions, copyright © 2003, page 95.)
