Worship & Prayers for The Fifth Sunday of Lent 

Opening Rite 

If you’re at home you might wish to light a candle, make sure you are sitting comfortably and take a few deep breaths to still yourself.  

The Lord is here. His Spirit is with us.

Prayers of Penitence

God shows his love for us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Let us then show our love for him by confessing our sins in penitence and faith.

cf Romans 5.8

Silence for reflection

O God, you know my foolishness and my sins are not hidden from you: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Let not the flood overwhelm me nor the depths swallow me up; let not the pit shut its mouth upon me: Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

Hear me, O Lord, as your loving kindness is good;

turn to me as your compassion is great: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

May the Father forgive us by the death of his Son and strengthen us to live in the power of the Spirit all our days. Amen

The Collect

You might like to keep a few moments of silence

Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

Ezekiel 37:1-14

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, 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.

Psalm 130

/R:  With the Lord there is mercy and plenteous redemption 

Out of the depths have I cried to you, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice;let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication. If you, Lord, were to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who could stand? /R:

But there is forgiveness wìth you, so that you shall be feared. /R:

I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; in his word is my hope. My soul waits for the Lord, more than the night watch for the morning, more than the night watch for the morning. /R:

O Israel, wait for the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy; With him is plenteous redemption and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins. /R:

Romans 8:6-11

To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law - indeed it cannot, and 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 him 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 Gospel according to John                                            Chapter 11:1-45

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ But when Jesus heard it, 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 he said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.’ After saying this, he told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.’ Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’ Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’  When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 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.’  When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he 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 for 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 upwards 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.

This is the Gospel of the Lord   Praise to you O Christ

Reflection

This is a story of two journeys. When they learn that their friend Lazarus is seriously ill, Jesus and his disciples are across the Jordan, away from Jerusalem’s hostility. They delay travelling to Bethany, two miles from Jerusalem, because Jesus is concerned for their safety. Once there, Jesus walks to the tomb where Lazarus has been for four days, dead beyond doubt, and is joined by his sisters and then their grieving neighbours. These journeys are charged with strong emotions – anxiety, uncertainty, expectation, disappointment, shock, anger and sorrow – and John doesn’t hide Jesus’ feelings.  The story’s conversations are tense. Jesus’ initial indecision worries his disciples. Then he confuses them by speaking in riddles about day and night, sleeping and waking. Their responses are certainly forthright. Martha and Mary chide Jesus for delaying. Some mourners are struck by Jesus’ grief at Lazarus’ tomb, while others wonder why he neglected his beloved friend after healing an unknown blind man in Jerusalem.  John explores faith as it straddles the boundary between life and death. Martha and Mary declare their trust in Jesus by informing him of Lazarus’s illness. Martha speaks for them both by expressing her faith in the resurrection of the dead and her confidence in Jesus’ power over death. Jesus reveals his faith by assuring them that Lazarus’s fatal illness won’t have the final word. And the villagers show their faith simply by being with them in their sorrow.  Undergirding these elements of the story are the relationships John portrays. Lazarus, Martha and Mary arrive in the Gospel narrative as if they are known to at least some of John’s audience. They belong to a wider family that stands with them in their grief. We see the tenderness of their relationship with Jesus, as true friends and model disciples drawn into the give-and-take of divine love. Less tender but nonetheless genuine are the relationships between Jesus and his travelling disciples. Misunderstanding and frustration are inevitable among those who spend so much time together, but Jesus shows genuine concern for the wellbeing of his closest supporters.  This is the seventh of John’s signs. Like the rest, it points beyond itself to the glory of God. Lazarus is central, yet silent throughout. What might John’s readers pray as Lazarus emerges from his tomb? ‘Wake me up too’ – to the love that defies the power of every kind of death.

Linking the readings

On Passion Sunday, Lent goes up a gear as Holy Week approaches. The readings remind us of death in all its dimensions: defeated armies, burnt-out hopes, demoralised people who feel abandoned, the destructive reign of self-centredness, the power of serious illness and the impact of natural death on families and communities. These readings also reassure us that in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the life-giving power of God’s Spirit breathes anew and undefeated across this otherwise bleak landscape.

Reproduced with permission www.rootsontheweb.com 2002-2021  

Prayers

Spend a few moments praying for the people you know and love, for the world, for peace and for the relief of refugees everywhere. 

On the Fifth Sunday of Lent

Gracious Father, you gave up your Son out of love for the world: lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion, that we may know eternal peace through the shedding of our Saviour’s blood. Amen

Praying for the Earth                                                                 Wind energy

The Holy Spirit, like the wind, sweeps over the face of the earth, giving life to the world. We pray for those who seek to harness the power of the wind, and for those concerned about the siting of wind turbines. Grant wisdom and integrity to the people responsible for forming opinions and making decisions.   Amen

From the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer for the Church

Porvoo Communion:  Diocese of Lund (Church of Sweden) and Diocese of Cashel, Ossory and Ferns (Ireland) and Diocese of Ely

Anglican Communion: The Anglican Church of Korea Primate: The Most Reverend Onesimus Dongsin Park   

Diocese of Møre: Inner Nordmøre Deanery, Parishes of Romfo and Øksendal

Bellingham Deanery: For the lay ministers and retired clergy who help to maintain regular worship in the churches of the deanery

From our Parish Prayer Cycle this week 

pray for all residents of Stokesley Grove and Cotswold Gardens

For the sick and those being cared for in hospital or at home      

For those in residential care    

For those who have died recently

Brian Smart

For those whose year’s minds are this week 

Lorraine Rollinson, Lionel Lawrence, Violet Rose Haslam, John Francis Nockles, Charles Bird, Minnie May Murdock, Ethel Maud Rootham, Thomas Gates, Sally Bailes and Ruth Millican

You might like to end your prayers with The Lord's Prayer  

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.  And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.  Amen.

The Conclusion

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the  Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen

Let us bless the Lord! Thanks be to God!