SATURDAY IN THE FIFTH WEEK OF LENT
You may find it helpful to have a space as a focus for your prayer. This might include a crucifix, icon or another holy image, and a lighted candle.Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Examen
Before listening to the Word of God take a moment to reflect. For what am I grateful to God for today? Where did I stray from God: through words, actions or things I did not do. How might I do better tomorrow? What grace do I ask from God in order to live more closely in his love? You may wish to conclude by saying: Lord Jesus, you have revealed yourself as the way to the Father: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. You have poured out on your people the Spirit of truth: Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. You are the Good Shepherd, leading us to eternal life: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.First Reading
A reading from the prophet Ezekiel 37: 21-28
I will make them into one nation.
The Lord says this: ‘I am going to take the sons of Israel from the nations where they have gone. I shall gather them together from everywhere and bring them home to their own soil. I shall make them into one nation in my own land and on the mountain of Israel, and one king is to be king of them all; they will no longer form two nations, nor be two separate kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and their filthy practices and all their sins. I shall rescue them from all the betrayals they have been guilty of; I shall cleanse them; they shall be my people and I will be their God. My servant David will reign over them, one shepherd for all; they will follow my observances, respect my laws, and practice them. They will live in the land that I gave my servant Jacob, the land in which your ancestors lived. They will live in it, they, their children, their children’s children, for ever. David my servant is to be their prince for ever. I shall make a covenant of peace with them, an eternal covenant with them. I shall resettle them and increase them; I shall settle my sanctuary among them for ever. I shall make my home above them; I will be their God, they shall be my people. And the nations will learn that I am the Lord the sanctifier of Israel, when my sanctuary is with them for ever.’Responsorial Psalm
Jr 31: 10-13. R. v.10
The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock. O nations, hear the word of the Lord, proclaim it to the far-off coasts. Say: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him and guard him as a shepherd guards his flock.’ R. For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, has saved him from an overpowering hand. They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion, they will stream to the blessings of the Lord. R. Then the young girls will rejoice and will dance, the men, young and old, will be glad. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will console them, give gladness for grief. R.Gospel Acclamation
Jn 3:16
Glory to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory! God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son; everyone who believes in him has eternal life. Glory to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!Gospel
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 11: 45-56
To gather together in unity the scattered children of God.
Many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in him, but some of them went to tell the Pharisees what he had done. Then the chief priests and Pharisees called a meeting. ‘Here is this man working all these signs’ they said ‘and what action are we taking? If we let him go in in this way everybody will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy the Holy Place and our nation.’ One of them, Caiaphas, the high priest that year, said, ‘You don’t seem to have grasped the situation at all; you fail to see that it is better for one man to die for the people, than for the whole nation to be destroyed.’ He did not speak in his own person, it was as high priest that he made this prophesy that Jesus was to die for the nation – and not or the nation only, but to gather together in unity the scattered children of God. From that day they were determined to kill him. So Jesus no longer went about openly among the Jews, but left the district for a town called Ephraim, in the country bordering on the desert, and stayed there with his disciples. The Jewish Passover drew near, and many of the country people who had gone up to Jerusalem to purify themselves looked out for Jesus, saying to one another as they stood about in the Temple, ‘What do you think? Will he come to the festival or not?’Profession of Faith
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen,