Lent: Spy Wednesday

This is the day we remember that Judas sold-out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, sold Him out with a kiss! It's easy for me to always think "oh, I'd never have done that" ... but I probably would have denied Jesus as Peter did -- out of fear -- and is that really any better?

Judas is steeped in mystery ... he was one of the closest to Jesus and yet he turned his back on the Son of God after having been given the ability to evangelize, to forgive and to help build Jesus' church! I guess Judas is proof that it is very easy to lose sight of the good, when trying to grasp at what I want rather than how God wants things done!

Today, after we went to Mass at the high school we came home and made Lenten Pretzels in honor of the hands clasped in prayer this Holy Week, as well as the ropes which tied Jesus' hands at the trial before Pilate, and the rope with which Judas hung himself. When I've tried to make pretzels before, they've usually come out a mess ... but these look pretty good. One thing I'm doing differently -- when I've been making bread this Lent, I've been using the kneading time as prayer time!

Here's the recipe that Jennifer at Catholic Cuisine posted: Holy Week Pretzels!

Traditionally, the pretzel was only eaten during Lent. It is available all year round now, but before it became a popular snack food it was available from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday. There are records of Lenten pretzels in a 5th century manuscript in the Vatican Library. Early Christians ate no dairy products during Lent, so pretzels were made from the simplest of ingredients - flour, salt, and water.It is made in the shape of two arms crossed in prayer. The origin of the name comes from the word "bracellae" (little arms). In German it became "Bretzel" which then changed to "Pretzel".

Pretzels
1 tablespoon honey or sugar
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1 tbls active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour (half white, half whole wheat)
Coarse or kosher salt
1 egg, beaten

Add the honey to the water; sprinkle in the yeast and stir until dissolved. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Blend in flour, and knead the dough until smooth. Cut the dough into pieces. Roll them into ropes and twist into pretzel shapes. Place pretzels on lightly greased cookie sheet. Brush them with beaten egg. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake at 425 for 12 - 15 minutes - or until the pretzels are golden brown.