Lent – Week #5

READING FOR TODAY:

Ezekiel 37:1-6
The hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

Prayer
O heavenly King, O Comforter, the Spirit of truth, who is in all places and fills all things;
treasury of good things and Giver of life,
come and dwell in us and cleanse us from every stain,
and save our souls, O gracious Lord.

READING FOR EVERY DAY:

Draw us into your love, Christ Jesus, and deliver us from fear.

Prayer
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
when there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Scripture
Psalm 32:1-5

Happy, of sin forgiven,
absolved of offense.
Happy, the man to whom
the LORD reckons no crime,
in whose spirit is no deceit.
When I was silent, my limbs were worn out -
when I roared all day long.
For day and night
Your hand was heavy upon me.
My sap turned to summer dust.
My offense I made known to You
and my crime I did not cover.
I said, “I shall confess my sins to the LORD,”
and You forgave my offending crime.

Confession
Holy Father, God of Love,
You are the Creator of this land and of all good things.
We acknowledge the pain and shame of our lives
and we ask your forgiveness.
Our hope is in you because you gave your Son Jesus
to reconcile the world to you.
We pray for your strength and grace to forgive,
accept and love one another,
as you love us and forgive and accept us
in the sacrifice of your Son.
May your power, love and forgiveness be the foundations
on which we build our families and communities
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Praying with Jesus
Luke 23:34

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Silence
(Who do we need to forgive this week?)

Closing Prayer
Lord, You have showered us with forgiveness
even when we did not seek it.
You have released us from our debts,
even when we did not ask it.
For this we have a shortage of words for thanks.
We can only thank You with our lives.
May we forgive as You have forgiven,
and may Your Spirit give us the power to do so.
In the strong name of Christ we pray,
Amen.