Make Space for Jesus: Learning about Lent and Easter

I remember being drawn into the season of Lent as a teenager, especially the feeling of the ashes being crossed on my forehead. Although I could not put into words what drew me into this season, I knew it signified that these upcoming forty days were different. I can still connect to the feeling of it. Now I am wondering: how do I start to share the mystery, simplicity, beauty, and sparseness of Lent with my three-year-old?

“Make Space for Jesus: Learning about Lent and Easter” by Laura Alary and Ann Boyajian is one of the ways I am entering into Lent at home. Alary’s words are beautifully simple and accessible for children. They are clear and invite mystery. They touch on the traditions of observing Lent and tell how Jesus’s life connects to those practices. They help me find the language to share this season with my child.

Some of the Lenten practices described, like cleaning our house, have not been specific seasonal practices for my family. Those differences invite conversation about why and if we want to form new traditions as a family.

“Make Space for Jesus” leads the readers through the season of Lent, including Holy Week, and end in Easter. Currently, we stop reading the story at Good Friday. My child is connecting to the emotion of sadness, wanting to find the picture of the church from the beginning and offer it comfort through a hug.

“Make Space for Jesus: Learning about Lent and Easter” written by Laura Alary and illustrated by Ann Boyajian. Published by Paraclete Press in 2022.