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\u2019s blood,
Jesus Christ our Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ezekiel 37.1\u201314<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 37The 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. 2<\/sup>He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3<\/sup>He said to me, \u2018Mortal, can these bones live?\u2019 I answered, \u2018O Lord God, you know.\u2019 4<\/sup>Then he said to me, \u2018Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5<\/sup>Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6<\/sup>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.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7 <\/sup>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. 8<\/sup>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. 9<\/sup>Then he said to me, \u2018Prophesy 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.\u2019 10<\/sup>I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 11 <\/sup>Then he said to me, \u2018Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, \u201cOur bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.\u201d 12<\/sup>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. 13<\/sup>And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14<\/sup>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.\u2019 John 11.1\u201345<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 11Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2<\/sup>Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3<\/sup>So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, \u2018Lord, he whom you love is ill.\u2019 4<\/sup>But when Jesus heard it, he said, \u2018This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God\u2019s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.\u2019 5<\/sup>Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6<\/sup>after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7 <\/sup>Then after this he said to the disciples, \u2018Let us go to Judea again.\u2019 8<\/sup>The disciples said to him, \u2018Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?\u2019 9<\/sup>Jesus answered, \u2018Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. 10<\/sup>But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.\u2019 11<\/sup>After saying this, he told them, \u2018Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.\u2019 12<\/sup>The disciples said to him, \u2018Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.\u2019 13<\/sup>Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14<\/sup>Then Jesus told them plainly, \u2018Lazarus is dead. 15<\/sup>For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.\u2019 16<\/sup>Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, \u2018Let us also go, that we may die with him.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n 17 <\/sup>When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18<\/sup>Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19<\/sup>and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20<\/sup>When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21<\/sup>Martha said to Jesus, \u2018Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22<\/sup>But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.\u2019 23<\/sup>Jesus said to her, \u2018Your brother will rise again.\u2019 24<\/sup>Martha said to him, \u2018I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.\u2019 25<\/sup>Jesus said to her, \u2018I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26<\/sup>and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?\u2019 27<\/sup>She said to him, \u2018Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n 28 <\/sup>When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, \u2018The Teacher is here and is calling for you.\u2019 29<\/sup>And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30<\/sup>Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31<\/sup>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. 32<\/sup>When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, \u2018Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.\u2019 33<\/sup>When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34<\/sup>He said, \u2018Where have you laid him?\u2019 They said to him, \u2018Lord, come and see.\u2019 35<\/sup>Jesus began to weep. 36<\/sup>So the Jews said, \u2018See how he loved him!\u2019 37<\/sup>But some of them said, \u2018Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n 38 <\/sup>Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39<\/sup>Jesus said, \u2018Take away the stone.\u2019 Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, \u2018Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.\u2019 40<\/sup>Jesus said to her, \u2018Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?\u2019 41<\/sup>So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, \u2018Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42<\/sup>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.\u2019 43<\/sup>When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, \u2018Lazarus, come out!\u2019 44<\/sup>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, \u2018Unbind him, and let him go.\u201945 <\/sup>Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n All collects and readings appointed for this day as well as the orders of Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer can be found at http:\/\/almanac.oremus.org\/2020-03-29<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sunday 29th March – Fifth Sunday of Lent Collect Gracious Father,you gave up your Sonout of love for the world:lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion,that we may know eternal peacethrough the shedding of our Saviour\u2019s blood,Jesus Christ our Lord. First Reading Ezekiel 37.1\u201314 37The hand of the Lord came upon me, and … <\/p>\n
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