This year, I completely forgot that I wanted to try the Passion lunch with my preschooler. If you would like a fantastic summary and “how-to,” guide from Catholic Icing, you can find it here.
However, I made it a point that we would make Resurrection Rolls. This is a relatively new tradition for our family. I read about them a few days before Easter last year, and was fortunate to be able to get to the store to buy crescent rolls to make the quick and easy recipe. So, we have made Resurrection Rolls two years in a row now. They are simple to make, and each year I have just done a Google search for the recipes (which I then modify to use up ingredients).
This year, I spent a significant portion of time having a full on discussion with M about what each part represented. I actually tweak the explanation, and I am grateful he is still young enough that he won’t ask me what the butter stands for in my explanation yet… It gives me another year or two to fine tune my presentation.
But, I digress.
This year, we had:
“All the mean things “the people did to Jesus, laughing at Him, pushing Him down, nailing Him to the Cross, represented in the marshmallow being rolled around in the mix.
Then, we discussed the care and love Mary and Jesus’ disciples showed in wrapping him up and rolling the stone in place in the tomb, as we were rolling the dough tightly around the marshmallow.
After that, this is where I went off recipe and off script. We rolled the dough back into the cinnamon/brown sugar mix, and had a discussion on how every time, “we make our friends sad, we make Jesus sad.” We went through friends names with the following dialogue:
Me: So, if you hurt A, you also hurt?
M: N! (A’s brother)
Me: No, if you hurt A, you also hurt Jesus.
M: Oh.
Once he got on a roll of answering those leading questions correctly, I tried to switch things up…
Me: So, if you don’t listen to Mommy, who else don’t you listen to?
M: To Daddy, and Ms. B., and…
Me: No. Not quite.
Obviously, we still have a little more work to do.
But, overall, I think he “got,” the beginning of the Resurrection lesson this year. He was able to excitedly tell his dad, Jesus, “waked up and Him came out of the rock!”
I learned this year to not skimp on brands of crescent dough, and to not go with the cheapest one, because quite frankly, Jesus didn’t just resurrect from the tomb, He exploded onto the scene (yes, I did seal the rolls/tomb tightly).
M was pleasantly surprised by the empty roll, and enjoyed eating it, which surprised me because he usually doesn’t like sticky foods.
So, here’s to a semi-successful year of Resurrection Rolls baked, and a fully successful Resurrection lesson this year! Perhaps next year, I’ll have a few more sealed tombs at completion of the baking. 😊