FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT
SUNDAY, MARCH 22ND, 2026
INTRODUCTION
In today’s gospel Jesus reveals his power over death by raising Lazarus from the
dead. The prophet Ezekiel prophesies God breathing new life into dry bones. To
those in exile or living in the shadows of death, these stories proclaim God’s
promise of resurrection. In baptism we die with Christ that we might also be
raised with him to new life. At the Easter Vigil we will welcome the newly baptized
as we remember God’s unfailing promise in our baptism.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Almighty God, your Son came into the world to free us all from sin and death.
Breathe upon us the power of your Spirit, that we may be raised to new life in
Christ and serve you in righteousness all our days, through Jesus Christ, our
Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and forever. Amen.
FIRST READING
EZEKIEL 37:1-14
Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones is a promise that Israel as a nation,
though dead in exile, will live again in their land through God’s life-giving spirit.
Three times Israel is assured that through this vision they will know that “I am the Lord.”
1 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. 2 He led me
all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry.
3 He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you
know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them: O dry
bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will
cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 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.”
7 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 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 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.” 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came
into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
11 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.’
12 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 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 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
PSALM 130
(Response) I wait for you, O Lord; in your word is my hope. (Ps. 130:5)
1 Out of the depths
I cry to you, O Lord;
2 O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
3 If you were to keep watch over sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 Yet with you is forgiveness,
in order that you may be feared.
(Response) I wait for you, O Lord; in your word is my hope. (Ps. 130:5)
5 I wait for you, O Lord; my soul waits;
in your word is my hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord more than those who keep watch for the morning,
more than those who keep watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, wait for the Lord, for with the Lord there is steadfast love;
with the Lord there is plenteous redemption.
8 For the Lord shall redeem Israel
from all their sins.
(Response) I wait for you, O Lord; in your word is my hope. (Ps. 130:5)
SECOND READING
ROMANS 8:6-11
For Paul, Christian spirituality entails living in the reality of the Holy Spirit. The
driving force behind our actions and values is not our sinful desire for self-
satisfaction but the very Spirit by which God raised Jesus from the dead and will
also raise us from the dead.
6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and
peace. 7 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, 8 and those who are in the flesh
cannot please God.
9 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.
10 But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life
because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead
dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your
mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me will never die. (John 11:25, 26)
GOSPEL READING
JOHN 11:1-45
Jesus is moved to sorrow when his friend Lazarus falls ill and dies. Then, in a
dramatic scene, he calls his friend out of the tomb and restores him to life.
1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister
Martha. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his
feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent a message to
Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 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.” 5 Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her
sister and Lazarus, 6 after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days
longer in the place where he was.
7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The
disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are
you going there again?” 9 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. 10 But those who walk at night stumble because the light is not
in them.” 11 After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,
but I am going there to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has
fallen asleep, he will be all right.” 13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about
his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14 Then Jesus
told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so
that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Thomas, who was called the Twin,
said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four
days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19 and many
of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while
Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my
brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you
whatever you ask of him.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last
day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe
in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in
me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe
that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
28 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.” 29 And when she heard it,
she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come to the village
but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 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 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.” 33 When Jesus
saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly
disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews
said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who
opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a
stone was lying against it. 39 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.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you
believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And
Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 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.” 43 When he had said
this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 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.”
45 Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what
Jesus did believed in him.
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