We attended our parish’s Tenebrae service this evening. It was very solemn and beautiful. Aisa sang the first solo. And Dan played some “thunder” after the Christ candle was brought out, which bewildered our little one a bit.

Talked to Papa and Mama this evening and told them about our activities this week. Hadn’t talked to them in 4 days because they were attending their parish retreat in the evenings. They did not have a Tenebrae service, however, which is not surprising — this was only our third in all the years we’ve lived in the US. I guess some parishes have them and some don’t? But what moved me this evening was my Papa’s description of an equivalent service years ago when he was a young kid/man — called tiniblas in the Philippines — there were candles that were put out one by one, to symbolize our journey into the darkness of Christ’s death. Mommy (I call her Mommy, the kids call her Mama) also described the absence of music, and the use instead of bamboo or wood to accompany the prayers (or chants? She wasn’t sure about that one…). This is one of the things that I love so much about being Catholic — our observations and celebrations reach back, through time, through generations, through language and place…. Papa and Mama are six hours away and yet I felt they were here, passing along yet another puzzle piece to form the picture of faith as it pertains to our family. It saddens me that we weren’t able to share this as I was growing up, our parish then did not have this service, but it’s so beautiful that I can now share something with my children that my own parents experienced in their youth.

As a footnote, in my title I have “trust the kids”…. Trust the kids to turn a solemn service into one of laughter. Right at the end of the service, Yena uhmmmm…. passed… something…. explosive. And the boys dissolved into giggles. One day my 5-year old will be mortified that I wrote about this for the world to see, but I had to remember. The boys are still laughing.