Fifth Sunday of Lent

Ezekiel 37:12-14 (Year A) (JB)

A reading from the prophet Ezekiel

I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live.

The Lord says this: I am going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live, and I shall resettle you on your own soil; and you will know that I, the Lord, have said and done this – it is the Lord who speaks.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 (Year B) (JB)

A reading from the prophet Jeremiah

The days are coming when I will make a new covenant with Israel and I will forgive their iniquity.

See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah, but not a covenant like the one I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant of mine, so I had to show them who was master. It is the Lord who speaks. No, this is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel when those days arrive – it is the Lord who speaks. Deep within them I will plant my Law, writing it on their hearts. Then I will be their God and they shall be my people. There will be no further need for neighbour to try to teach neighbour, or brother to say to brother, ‘Learn to know the Lord!’ No, they will all know me, the least no less than the greatest – it is the Lord who speaks – since I will forgive their iniquity and never call their sin to mind.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Ezekiel 37:12-14 (Year A) (NRSV)

A reading from the book of the prophet Ezekiel

Thus says the Lord God:

“I am going to open your graves,

and bring you up from your graves, O my people;

and I will bring you back to the land of Israel.

And you shall know that I am the Lord,

when I open your graves,

and bring you up from your graves, O my people.

“I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live,

and I will place you on your own soil;

then you shall know

that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 ( Year B) (NRSV)

A reading from the book of the prophet Jeremiah

The days are surely coming, says the Lord,

when I will make a new covenant

with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors

when I took them by the hand

to bring them out of the land of Egypt-

a covenant that they broke,

though I was their husband,

says the Lord.

But this is the covenant

that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,

says the Lord:

I will put my law within them,

and I will write it on their hearts;

and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

No longer shall they teach one another,

or say to each other; “Know the Lord,”

for they shall all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord;

for I will forgive their iniquity,

and remember their sin no more.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Ps 129 (JB)

R. With the Lord there is mercy

and fullness of redemption.

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,

Lord, hear my voice!

O let your ear be attentive

to the voice of my pleading. R.

If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,

Lord, who would survive?

But with you is found forgiveness:

for this we revere you. R.

My soul is waiting for the Lord,

I count on his word.

My soul is longing for the Lord

more than watchman for daybreak.

(Let the watchman count on daybreak

and Israel on the Lord.) R.

Because with the Lord there is mercy

and fullness of redemption,

Israel indeed he will redeem

from all its iniquity. R.

Ps 50:3-4, 12-15 (Year B) (JB)

R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.

In your compassion blot out my offence.

O wash me more and more from my guilt

and cleanse me from my sin. R.

A pure heart create for me, O God,

put a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence,

nor deprive me of your holy spirit. R.

Give me again the joy of your help;

with a spirit of fervour sustain me,

that I may teach transgressors your ways

and sinners may return to you. R.

Hebrews 5:7-9 (Year B) (JB)

A reading from the letter to the Hebrews

He learnt to obey and became for all the source of eternal salvation.

During his life on earth, Christ offered up prayer and entreaty, aloud and in silent tears, to the one who had the power to save him out of death, and he submitted so humbly that his prayer was heard. Although he was Son, he learnt to obey through suffering; but having been made perfect, he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Romans 8:8-11 (Year A) (JB)

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he will give life to your own mortal bodies.

People who are interested only in unspiritual things can never be pleasing to God. Your interests, however, are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual, since the Spirit of God has made his home in you. In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of Christ you would not belong to him. Though your body may be dead it is because of sin, but if Christ is in you then your spirit is life itself because you have been justified; and if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Hebrews 5:7-9 (Year B) (NRSV)

A reading from the letter to the Hebrews

In the days of his flesh,

Jesus offered up prayers and supplications,

with loud cries and tears,

to the one who was able to save him from death,

and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

Although he was a Son,

he learned obedience through what he suffered;

and having been made perfect,

he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Romans 8:8-11 (Year A) (NRSV)

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit,

since the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ

does not belong to him.

But if Christ is in you,

though the body is dead because of sin,

the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

If the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead

dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead

will give life to your mortal bodies also

through his Spirit that dwells in you.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

John 11:25, 26 (Year A) (JB)

Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;

whoever believes in me will not die for ever.

Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

John 12:26 (Year B) (JB)

Glory to you, Word of God, Lord Jesus Christ!

If you serve me, follow me, says the Lord;

and where I am, my servant will also be.

Glory to you, Word of God, Lord Jesus Christ!

John 11:25, 26 (Year A) (NRSV)

Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;

whoever believes in me will not die for ever.

Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

John 12:26 (Year B) (NRSV)

Glory to you, Word of God, Lord Jesus Christ!

If you serve me, follow me, says the Lord;

and where I am, my servant will also be.

Glory to you, Word of God, Lord Jesus Christ!

John 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33-45 (Year A) (JB)

A Reading from the holy Gospel according to John

I am the resurrection and the life.

The sisters Martha and Mary sent this message to Jesus, ‘Lord, the man you love is ill.’ On receiving the message, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will end not in death but in God’s glory, and through it the Son of God will be glorified.’

Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when he heard that Lazarus was ill he stayed where he was for two more days before saying to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judaea.’

On arriving, Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:

‘I am the resurrection and the life,

If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,

and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

Do you believe this?’

‘Yes Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’ Jesus said in great distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart, ‘Where have you put him?’ They said ‘See how much he loved him!’ But there were some who remarked, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man, could he not have prevented this man’s death?’ Still sighing, Jesus reached the tomb: it was a cave with a stone to close the opening. Jesus said, ‘Take the stone away.’ Martha said to him ‘Lord by now he will smell; this is the fourth day.’ Jesus replied ‘Have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said:

‘Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer.

I knew indeed that you always hear me.

But I speak

for the sake of all these who stand round me,

so that they may believe it was you who sent me.’

When he had said this, he cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, here! Come out!’ The dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with bands of stuff and a cloth round his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free.’

Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what he did believed in him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

John 12:20-30 (Year B) (JB)

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

If a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it yields a rich harvest.

Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. These approached Philip, who came from Bethsaida in Galilee, and put this request to him, ‘Sir, we should like to see Jesus.’ Philip went to tell Andrew, and Andrew and Philip together went to tell Jesus. Jesus replied to them:

‘Now the hour has come

for the Son of Man to be glorified.

I tell you, most solemnly,

unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies,

it remains only a single grain;

but if it dies,

it yields a rich harvest.

Anyone who loves his life loses it;

anyone who hates his life in this world

will keep it for the eternal life.

If a man serves me, he must follow me,

wherever I am, my servant will be there too.

If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.

Now my soul is troubled.

What shall I say:

Father, save me from this hour?

But it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour.

Father, glorify your name!’

A voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’

People standing by, who heard this, said it was a clap of thunder; others said, ‘It was an angel speaking to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not for my sake that this voice came, but for yours.

‘Now sentence is being passed on this world;

now the prince of this world is to be overthrown.

And when I am lifted up from the earth,

I shall draw all men to myself.’

By these words he indicated the kind of death he would die.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

John 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33-45 (Year A) (NRSV)

Short form

John 11:3-7. 17. 20-27. 33-45

A reading from the holy gospel according to John

The sisters of Lazarus sent a message to Jesus,

“Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

But when Jesus heard this, he said,

“This illness does not lead to death;

rather it is for God’s glory,

so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha

and her sister and Lazarus,

after having heard that Lazarus was ill,

he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this Jesus said to the disciples,

“Let us go to Judea again.”

When Jesus arrived,

he found that Lazarus had already been

in the tomb four days.

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,

she went and met him,

while Mary stayed at home.

Martha said to Jesus,

“Lord, if you had been here,

my brother would not have died.

But even now I know that God

will give you whatever you ask of him.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha said to him,

“I know that he will rise again

in the resurrection on the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.

Those who believe in me,

even though they die, will live,

and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.

Do you believe this?”

She said to him,

“Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,

the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

Jesus was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.

He said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”

Jesus began to weep.

So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

But some of them said,

“Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man

have kept this man from dying?”

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb.

It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.

Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”

Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him,

“Lord, already there is a stench

because he has been dead four days.”

Jesus said to her,

“Did I not tell you that if you believed,

you would see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone.

And Jesus looked upward and said,

“Father, I thank you for having heard me.

I knew that you always hear me,

but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here,

so that they may believe that you sent me.”

When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice,

“Lazarus, come out!”

The dead man came out,

his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth,

and his face wrapped in a cloth.

Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary

and had seen what Jesus did believed in him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

John 12:20-30 (Year B) (NRSV)

A reading from the holy gospel according to John

Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.

They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,

and said to him,

“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

Philip went and told Andrew;

then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

Jesus answered them,

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Very truly, I tell you,

unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,

it remains just a single grain;

but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Those who love their life lose it,

and those who hate their life in this world

will keep it for eternal life.

“Whoever serves me must follow me,

and where I am, there will my servant be also.

Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.

“Now my soul is troubled.

And what should I say- ‘Father, save me from this hour’?

No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.

Father, glorify your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven,

“I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder.

Others said, “Angel has spoken to him.”

Jesus answered,

“This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.

Now is the judgment of this world;

now the ruler of this world will be driven out.

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth,

will draw all people to myself.”

Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.