A Blessing for Holy Week

Each night during Lent, when we sit down for dinner together, we’ll read ‘Twas the Season of Lent by Glenys Nellist Author. The book is a 40-day devotional and storybook that explores the life, words, and works of Jesus and encourages families to draw closer to God during the Lenten Season. It’s been a great companion for us over the last few years.

Two nights ago when no one had a practice or meeting (and everyone was healthy), we caught up on a few readings we’ve missed. One story told of Jesus‘s love for everyone through his care for lepers.

“Yes, it’s easy” he says. “I’ll tell you when you’re done reading.”

And so I finish our story with this wonderful line: Jesus reached out to heal, hold and bring hope to everyone, no matter who they were, how old they were, what they'd done, or where they came from. What a wonderful world it would be if all the followers of Jesus would do that too.”

Turning to Isaac, I say, “All right, Isaac, your turn. Tell me the story.”

And he does. Isaac tells us all the story of the 10 lepers and how they were healed by Jesus, who then tells them to go to the priest. But only one stayed back to praise God.

I have to admit I was surprised at his retelling of the story; his remembering the story of the 10 lepers, and the one who gave thanks. I asked him if he heard the story at church or Sunday school this week.

“No,” he said. “I just know it.”

That’s the gift of telling the Bible stories over and over again. We can never tire of hearing them, having them read to us, or reading them ourselves. As a family we’ve read from storybook bibles over dinner. He probably has heard it at church or Sunday school.

Over and over again we tell these stories so that they become a part of us. So that we can recite them and bring them to memory. So that the words can comfort us and remind us of God’s presence and love. So we can learn how to live as God intended, with peace and justice.

Now as we’re entering the most holy week of our church calendar, we get to hear the stories of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection again. The stories that are so important to our faith. The stories that continue to bring new meaning and new insight into our lives.

Whether you’ll be attending services this week or not, you can read the stories by yourself or as a family. Grab a kids Bible and read over dinner or before bed. Wash your kids’ feet in the bathtub on Maundy Thursday. Bake bread together on Good Friday. Wait and wonder with the women at the tomb. Be astonished that this story is ours to hear over and over again.

That this hope is ours to claim.

If you feel as though life is already dark
if Lent feels never-ending
if worry has taken over your mind
if you wonder when dawn will break,
this blessing is for you.

This blessing gently invites you
to feel the week
the holy days
the lingering minutes
the stories of our faith.

This blessing knows uncertainty, pain, and darkness,
but this blessing also sees the light.

This blessing will take your hand and guide you
to receive the bread and wine
hearing the words given and shed for you,
to cradle your feet and wash them
looking in your eyes with love and a servant’s heart,
to sit at the foot of the cross crying with you
offering presence in grief and loss
never leaving your side.

To wait and dance in the dark,
peering into the light
rising with the Son,
meeting at the empty tomb.

This blessing is yours
through the holiest of days
and the biggest heartbreaks,
this blessing is yours
transforming death into life.

Come closer and hear these words
they are yours
today and everyday:

You are loved, you are loved, you are loved.

// You can find this blessing and many more for the church year in my upcoming book Small Steps: Blessings to Lift Your Soul on the Pilgrimage of Life. Small Steps includes blessings and essays all based on the belief that each of us can offer words of goodness and hope to others. In this book of blessings I’m inviting you to see God at work in your lives and the world. And how you can share words of hope with others. Pre-order today to get this book delivered to your doorstep on May 5th, 2026!

Preorder Small Steps

I invited some friends of mine to share their take on blessing writing or the theme of small steps. I loved my friend Kristina Tucker’s prayer For the Mothers Who Are Healing:

Help us to raise children who love deeply,
who see and fight for injustice,
who are kind and good friends,
who are resilient and sturdy for the weight of this world.
who know how to slow down and savor the beauty that surrounds them.
who always remember to play.

And my friend Wendy Mengel wrote a powerful prayer and blessing for first responders:

God, they are so strong and so tough yet underneath the muscles and the tattoos is a deeply tender heart that is grieved and worn down by this job. I know they are called to it. I know you have this for them and that they feel so much purpose in it.

Please remind them of that truth now. Help them see Your face in every patient and know they are your hands and feet in a dark world.

And please, Lord, just be with them. In the grief and sorrow, in the wondering and discouragement, help them know they’re not alone.

Thanks for reading and supporting my work, friend! Hit reply to this email and tell me how you’ll be experiencing Holy Week this year. I’d love to know.

And if you haven’t preordered Small Steps, yet, may I remind you how important preorders are to authors?! In some magic way in the publishing world, preorders signal to bookstores which books should be noticed. I’d love to get Small Steps noticed by others and in the hands of readers who could use a dose of hope and the reminder to bless their days. Thank you!