Fifth Sunday of Lent

God opens graves and raises the dead; Jesus weeps at Lazarus' tomb then commands him to come out; the Spirit who raised Christ gives life to mortal bodies; the Third Scrutiny prepares the elect for the resurrection of Baptism.

Ezekiel proclaims: I will open your graves and have you rise. I will put my spirit in you that you may live. I have promised, and I will do it. Psalm 130 cries from the depths: if you mark iniquities, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness. More than sentinels wait for the dawn. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption. Paul writes: if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus dwells in you, he will give life to your mortal bodies also. In the Gospel, Lazarus has been dead four days. Martha meets Jesus: if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Jesus declares: I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this? Martha confesses: yes, Lord. At the tomb, Jesus weeps, then commands: Lazarus, come out! The dead man emerges bound in burial cloths. Jesus says: untie him and let him go.

DEACON/PRIEST: Lord Jesus, you are the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in you, even if he dies, will live. PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.

DEACON/PRIEST: Christ Jesus, you wept at the tomb of your friend and entered our grief before you conquered it. PEOPLE: Christ, have mercy.

DEACON/PRIEST: Lord Jesus, you cry out to the dead and command them to come forth; your voice reaches into every sealed tomb. PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.

PRIEST: Out of the depths we cry to you, O Lord. With trust in the God who opens graves, let us bring our prayers.

DEACON/LECTOR:

1. For our Holy Father, Pope Leo, and the whole Church: that she would be the voice of Christ calling the dead to life in every corner of the world, we pray to the Lord.

2. For the elect who undergo the Third Scrutiny today: that the God who raised Lazarus would break every chain of death that still binds them, and that the community would untie them and set them free, we pray to the Lord.

3. For those who grieve - who stand at tombs and cry "if you had been here": that Jesus would meet them in their sorrow, weep with them, and speak the word of resurrection, we pray to the Lord.

4. For all who have given up hope - in marriages, in families, in their own conversion: that the voice of Christ would reach into sealed tombs and command what is dead to live, we pray to the Lord.

5. For the sick and the dying: that the Spirit who raised Jesus would dwell in them and give life to their mortal bodies, we pray to the Lord.

6. For the faithful departed: that the God who promised to open graves would raise them to the fullness of redemption, we pray to the Lord.

PRIEST: God of the living, you have promised to open our graves and fill us with your Spirit. Hear our cry from the depths, and speak the word that raises the dead, through your Son Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection and the life, forever and ever. Amen.