"Healing Wounds" Series 2026

 

“Healing Wounds” Series Summary (Feb. 18-Apr. 5)
What do we do with wounds that won’t close—grief that lingers, shame we carry quietly, a world that feels fragile?  In Lent, we will take those questions seriously through an encounter with Jesus, not as a distant savior but as a wounded healer who knows pain firsthand.  Guided by Erik Varden’s Healing Wounds and a medieval devotional prayer by Arnulf of Leuven, we will linger with Christ’s scarred body and discover how God’s love works not by erasing suffering, but by entering it and transforming it.  Each week, we will recommend a different prayer posture.  Join us this Lent for a season of honest prayer and surprising hope as we open ourselves to the promise that what hurts most can become the place where new life begins.

Feb. 18 | Ash Wednesday
AFFLICTION: We are wounded people living in a wounded world.  In Mark 8:31-35, Jesus says that following him means taking up a cross rather than chasing quick fixes or easy victories.  His words encourage us to resist a sentimental faith that skips over pain.  The ashes that signify our human need also invite us to trust in a savior who heals not by erasing wounds but by carrying them.  What hurt do you feel?

Ash Wednesday Prayer Posture: Seated, hands resting open on the thighs — a posture of honest acknowledgement, patience, and readiness to wait with God.

Feb. 22 | Lent 1
TO THE FEET: Many people are uncomfortable with their feet.  In John 13:2-7, 12-14, after Jesus unexpectedly washes his disciples’ feet, he instructs them to wash each other’s feet.  On the cross, the nail in Jesus’ feet is even more scandalous: living flesh pierced by dead iron, freedom held in place by violence.  Yet even as the cross is an instrument of evil, it also becomes the scene for undoing evil, as when God sweetened the bitter waters of Marah.  Following Jesus means letting our wounded steps be washed and reshaped by humble love, until even our ordinary movements become acts of reverence and grace.  What bothers you most about your feet?

Lent 1 Prayer Posture: Full prostration — lying face down, acknowledging both our woundedness and God’s transforming mercy.

 Mar. 1 | Lent 2
TO THE KNEES: Weak-kneed people are viewed as indecisive and lacking resolve.  In Luke 22:39-46, Jesus kneels in Gethsemane, which Erik Varden argues is not an act of humiliation but recognition that there is One greater than ourselves who deserves reverence.  Christ’s wavering knees show that obedience is costly, and they redefine dignity not as control but trust.  As we kneel with Christ, our ideas of power are reoriented.  How has knee replacement helped you? 

Lent 2 Prayer Posture: Kneeling, with an intentional and graceful genuflection — embodying reverence that elevates rather than diminishes.

Mar. 8 | Lent 3
TO THE HANDS: We give someone a hand to encourage them.  In Exodus 3:7-20, God extends strength and power from the Divine hands, which gives life to the enslaved people of God.  On the cross, Jesus extends strength through the Divine hands in a way that softens our hearts to the world.  In Revelations of Divine Love, Julian of Norwich describes a vision of the world, the size of a hazelnut in the palm of her hand, affirming that God made it, loves it, and sustains it through the strength of the hands that were pierced on the cross.  When have you felt the hand of God?

Lent 3 Prayer posture: Standing or seated with arms extended outward — a posture of surrender, trust, and shared blessing.

Mar. 15 | Lent 4
TO THE SIDE: We all make messes.  In Leviticus 16:15-19, Aaron sprinkles blood on the altar so God's mercy will flow like a river to Israel.  Echoing the ancient priestly ritual, the blood and water that flow from Jesus’s pierced side can be seen as life for a thirsty world.  Erik Varden invites us to see Christ’s open wound as a refuge—a cleft rock where the fragile are sheltered, and the hardened are softened.  Here, at Christ’s side, we find healing through the intimate grace that forms the Church and restores our capacity to love.  When have you spilled something?

Lent 4 Prayer posture: Hands cupped at chest height — ready to receive mercy, grace, and life poured out.

Mar. 22 | Lent 5
TO THE BREAST: Trust is essential for healthy relationships.  In John 13:21-31, 34, we meet the Beloved Disciple reclining upon Jesus’ breast while a Bosom Friend plans to betray him.  Erik Varden suggests that Christ’s breast is a place of rest that teaches us courage, compassion, and perseverance in the face of betrayal and suffering.  Such loving companionship gives us the quiet strength to remain present when wounds cannot be healed, and we trust that compassion itself is holy work.  When have you leaned on someone?

Lent 5 Prayer posture: Slight bow forward, one hand over the heart — expressing nearness, compassion, and shared responsibility. 

Mar. 29 | Palm Sunday
TO THE HEART: We speak of setting our hearts on something that is important to us.  Likewise, Jesus was determined to show the heart of God’s love amid the shouts of praise and shock of the cross.  Jesus’ heart stopped on the cross, and yet it was alive with the fullness of God.  Mystics like Julian of Norwich teach us that human vulnerability and divine constancy coexist paradoxically without contradiction.  In Ephesians 3:17-19, Paul prays that Christ will live in our hearts with a love that opens itself to suffering, not to glorify pain, but to make room for us to dwell within it.  When has conviction carried you through difficulty?

Palm Sunday Prayer posture: Seated, upright, breathing slowly and deeply — a posture of interior stability and indwelling presence.

Apr. 2 | Maundy Thursday
TO THE FACE: It is not always easy to face the truth or face the facts.  In Exodus 33:7-19, Moses consults with God "face to face," but later God declares that "none may see my face and live."  On the cross, these mixed messages are reconciled.  Even as Jesus' face is pierced by thorns and blood clouds his eyes, we are also looking upon the face of God, both as his torturers and as his friends.  God’s face never truly turns away from us, but we must be prepared to see it in the bleeding face of Jesus.  When have you faced an uncomfortable truth?

Maundy Thursday Prayer posture: Standing, eyes open, face lifted — a posture of readiness, recognition, and encounter.

Apr. 5 | Easter
FLOURISHING: We often hope for a clean ending, one without scars, loose ends, or reminders of what hurt us.  But the risen Christ still bears wounds, and somehow those wounds are exactly where new life breaks out.  In Revelation 22:1-5, John has a vision of life flowing from the Lamb of God.  Resurrection doesn’t erase pain but transforms it.  New life grows out of what once felt like defeat.  On Easter, we discover that even our unfinished healing can become a place where grace takes root, and the world begins to flourish again.  When have your wounds produced new life?

Easter Prayer posture: Standing, feet firmly planted, arms gently open at the sides with palms forward — a resurrection stance that holds together grief and joy, rootedness and readiness, witnessing to a world still wounded yet already flowering in Christ.