Year
C
The Fifth Sunday in Lent
17
March 2013
Eucharistic Preface
Let
us lift up our hearts.
........We
lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our
God.
........It is right to
give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right to give
you our thanks and praise, O God,
for there is nothing else in
life that can compare
with the surpassing value of knowing
you.
The newborn earth sprang forth at your touch
and life
burst free as you lavished your love upon it.
You formed a people
to declare your glory
and led them to freedom on a road through
the sea.
Your child, Jesus Christ, honoured our outpoured
devotion,
but was betrayed and killed by those
who profit from
corruption.
You raised him to life
and called us leave the
past
and look to the new wonders you are doing:
opening
pathways through inhospitable places
and pouring forth springs
where all was dry and lifeless,
so that we, and all who have
laboured in sorrow,
might joyously bring forth a harvest of
righteousness
and join Christ in the glory of his resurrection
life.
Therefore with .....
©2001
Nathan Nettleton www.laughingbird.net
Short
Preface
(for insertion into Eucharistic prayers with
fixed prefaces)
We thank you for your love in Christ
which
opens pathways through inhospitable places,
so that we might press
on through suffering and death
to the prize of resurrection life
in Christ.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton
www.laughingbird.net
General
Prayer of Thanksgiving
(Preface reformatted for use
apart from communion)
We give you all
thanks and praise, O God,
for there is nothing else in life that
can compare
with the surpassing value of knowing you.
The
newborn earth sprang forth at your touch
and life burst free as
you lavished your love upon it.
You formed a people to declare
your glory
and led them to freedom on a road through the
sea.
Your child, Jesus Christ, honoured our outpoured
devotion,
but was betrayed and killed by those
who profit from
corruption.
You raised him to life
and called us leave the
past
and look to the new wonders you are doing:
opening
pathways through inhospitable places
and pouring forth springs
where all was dry and lifeless,
so that we, and all who have
laboured in sorrow,
might joyously bring forth a harvest of
righteousness
and join Christ in the glory of his resurrection
life.
Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you
thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever
and ever.
Amen.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton
www.laughingbird.net
Declaration
of Grace / Absolution
The righteousness that comes
from God
is given to all who turn from their past
and put
their faith in Christ.
Sisters and brothers, God has heard your
confession;
Christ Jesus has made you his own.
Arise! Your sins
are forgiven!
©2001 Nathan Nettleton
www.laughingbird.net
Commission
& Benediction
Go now, and press on in
the path to which God has called you.
Do not get caught up in the
things of the past,
or in the things that the world prizes,
but
welcome the new things God is doing,
and take the new paths that
open through the places of death.
And may God pour life-giving
waters into your wilderness;
May Christ Jesus make you his
own;
And may the Holy Spirit strengthen you
........for
the race that lies before you.
We go in peace to love and
serve the Lord,
........In the
name of Christ. Amen.
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton www.laughingbird.net
Paraphrases of the
Scripture Lections
for the
Fifth Sunday in Lent - Year C - 17 March 2013
Lections
from The Revised Common Lectionary.
Copyright 1992 by the
Consultation on Common Texts (CCT)
P. O. Box 340003, Room 381,
Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.
* Isaiah 43: 16-21
This is what the LORD
has to say:
I am the one who cut a path through the ocean for
you,
........an escape route through
the raging waters.
I am the one who dealt with the army that
pursued you,
........the soldiers and
all their weapons of war.
Where are they now? Lying dead, never to
rise again;
........snuffed out like
a drenched candle.
Now I say to you: Don’t dwell on the
things of the past;
........don’t
get bogged down in nostalgia.
I am about to do something
completely new;
........can’t
you see it taking shape before your very eyes?
I will make a
safe path through the hostile wilderness,
........and
make the desert rivers flow again.
Untamed animals will applaud
what I do
........— dingoes,
emus, goannas —
because the desert bursts into
life
........as I send rains, filling
the inland lakes.
Now the people I have chosen can drink their
fill;
........I created them to be my
people,
................to enjoy and
celebrate the things I do.
©2001 Nathan
Nettleton www.laughingbird.net
* Psalm
126
When you brought us home to Zion from exile,
LORD,
........we
had to pinch ourselves to be sure it wasn’t a dream.
Laughter
and singing kept bubbling up in us;
........we
were just over the moon!
Even the nations around us had to
admit
........that you must have
taken our side, LORD.
Indeed, we could only
celebrate and thank you
........for
the wonderful things you had done for us.
LORD,
we need your help again;
........we
are like dry creek-beds in need of rain.
We have worked with
sweat and tears;
........let us reap
the rewards with celebration.
Let those who laboured with
heavy hearts,
........expecting
nothing but despair,
come home with pride
renewed,
........celebrating
unimaginable success.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton
www.laughingbird.net
* Philippians 3:
4b-14
........If anyone
starts bragging about their breeding and background to win an
audience, I could trump them every time. I’ve got a pedigree to
die for! I’m a pure blooded Israelite, born into the noble
tribe of Benjamin. I was circumcised when I was eight days old,
exactly as the law prescribes. I was educated by the Pharisees the
best school, so I know the scriptures inside out, and discipline and
obedience are second nature to me. I was so pumped up with passion
for the purity of religion that I led violent campaigns against
declared heretics, including the church. You could measure me against
the strictest interpretations of the law and I’d come out with
a perfect record every time.
........Most
people would count all this as the perfect start in life, but I have
come to see it as more of a disadvantage. Why? Because of Christ. You
see, the one and only thing that is of real and lasting value is
knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, and I now realise that just about
everything else gets in the way of that. This is why I’ve
turned my back on all of it — I now regard it as a lot of crap.
I’ve broken my addiction to it so that I can give myself
totally to Christ and be embraced fully by him. I’m no longer
interested in how I measure up to any checklist of religious laws,
however worthy it may be. God’s checklist is the only one that
matters to me now and it only has one item on it. All those who trust
Christ get the big tick from God. What I really want now is to know
Christ intimately and to experience in my own life the power that
raised him from the dead. I’ll do whatever it takes —
I’ll take my share of his sufferings, I’ll follow him on
the road to death if need be — because the only thing that
matters to me is to be united with him in his resurrection
life.
........I’m not claiming
for a moment that I’ve made it, or that I’ve now got it
all together. There’s a long way to go, but at least I’m
now on the right track and I’m not giving up. I know I’ll
make it because Christ is backing me all the way. My friends, I don’t
see myself as the expert in these things, but I know enough to be
sure of which way to go. I’m taking no further interest in the
successes or failures of the past. I’ve got my eyes firmly
fixed on what God has called me to become, and I won’t let
anything stop me until I cross the line and fall into the waiting
arms of Christ.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton
www.laughingbird.net
* John 12:
1-8
........Six days
before the celebration of Passover, Jesus arrived in Bethany. He
stayed overnight in the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus; the man he
had previously raised from the dead. Martha prepared a dinner party
in honour of Jesus, and everyone was there, including Lazarus. During
the evening, Mary broke open a very expensive bottle of blended
fragrant oils. She poured out the oil and used it to massage Jesus’
feet. She then wiped them dry with her own hair. The intoxicating
fragrance of the oils filled the whole house.
........Judas
Iscariot, however, took exception to her behaviour. Although he was
one of Jesus’ closest followers, the seeds of betrayal were
taking root in his mind. When he saw what Mary was doing, he growled,
“What do you think you’re doing? That stuff is worth a
fortune. Why was it not sold and the money put to work to do
something for the poor?”
........He
wasn’t really the least bit concerned about the plight of the
poor, but he was their treasurer and liked to keep their shared
account topped up so he could help himself to it without anyone
noticing.
........Jesus said, “Get
off her case, Judas! She brought that oil and kept it to use in
preparing me for a decent burial. There will never be any shortage of
opportunities to do something worthwhile for the poor, but you won’t
always have the opportunity to do anything worthwhile for me.”
©2001
Nathan Nettleton www.laughingbird.net