The Fifth Sunday in Lent
THE COLLECT
Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of
sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you
promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may
surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 43:16-21
Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who
brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they
are extinguished, quenched like a wick: Do not remember the former things, or
consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do
you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in
the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people
whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.
Reader: The Word of the Lord People: Thanks be to God
PSALM Psalm 126
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, *
then were we like those who dream.
2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, *
and our tongue with shouts of joy.
3 Then they said among the nations, *
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
4 The Lord has done great things for us, *
and we are glad indeed.
5 Restore our fortunes, O Lord, *
like the watercourses of the Negev.
6 Those who sowed with tears *
will reap with songs of joy.
7 Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, *
will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.
EPISTLE Philippians 3:4b-14
If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised
on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a
Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of
the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I
had; these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I
regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard
them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not
having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes
through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to
know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings
by becoming like him in his death, if somehow, I may attain the resurrection
from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached
the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me
his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one
thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ
Jesus.
Reader: The Word of the Lord People: Thanks be to God
THE GOSPEL of our Lord Jesus Christ according to:
John 12:1-8 People: Glory to You Lord Christ
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus,
whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha
served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound
of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with
her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas
Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why
was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the
poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a
thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus
said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my
burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
Reader: The Gospel of the Lord People: Praise to you, Lord Christ