Author: Revd. Karen Mitchell

Sunday

22nd March 2026 The Fifth Sunday of Lent

Collect
Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ
delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
First Reading
Ezekiel 37.1 –14
A Reading from the Prophet Ezekiel
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. He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, Mortal, can these bones live? I answered, O Lord God, you know. Then he said to me, Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 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. 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. 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. 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. I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. 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.
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. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 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
Out of the depths have I cried to you, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice; let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication. If you, Lord, were to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you, so that you shall be feared. I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; in his word is my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord, more than the night watch for the morning, more than the night watch for the morning.
O Israel, wait for the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy; With him is plenteous redemption and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.
Second Reading
Romans 8.6-11
A Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans
To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to Gods law, indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 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. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
Gospel John 11.1–45
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, Lord, he whom you love is ill. But when Jesus heard it, he said, This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for Gods glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, Let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again? 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. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them. After saying this, he told them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him. The disciples said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right. Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him. Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away,
and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary
stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him. Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world. 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. And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 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. 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. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, See how he loved him! But some of them said, Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying? Then
Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 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 for four days.
Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, Father, I thank you for having heard me. 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.
When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! 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. Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
Post Communion
Lord Jesus Christ, you have taught us
that what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters we do also for you: give us the will to be the servant of others as you were the servant of all, and gave up your life and died for us, but are alive and reign, now and for ever.

Services this week:
Sunday 22nd March The Fifth Sunday of Lent
10am Sung Mass
Refreshments are available after this service, please do stay and join us.
Tuesday 24th March
10am Said Mass
10.30am - 12pm Tea & Toast
Wednesday 25th March
7pm Lent Course—In His Hands, Holy Week Through Signs and Symbols
Thursday 26th March
12-2pm Soup and a Roll
Saturday 28th March
10am Stations of the Cross
11am - 1pm Cleaning
Sunday 29th March Palm Sunday
10am Sung Mass with Blessing of Palms and Procession
Refreshments are available after this service, please do stay and join us.
Your prayers are asked at this time for:
All those who are sick or in any kind of need
Those who have recently Departed:
Those whose anniversary of death occurs at about this time:
Notices
Fundraising: We currently have the 50/50 Raffle on a monthly basis, £1 per ticket (you can have as many tickets as you want), the prize money being split between the roof fund and the winning ticket number, the next draw will take place on Sunday 29th March
Porch Pantry: We are currently in desperate need of Pasta n Sauce, Tinned Tomatoes, Crisps, Biscuits, Pot Noodles, Pasta, Tinned Potatoes, Shower Gel.
Electoral Roll - It is that time of year when we need to update the electoral roll if you wish to be added to the roll of if your details have changed in the last year, then please contact Liz Carvell. The revision will take place between 29th March - 19th April.
Tea & Toast: We will be serving Tea (or coffee) and Toast (with jam or marmalade) from 10.30am on a Tuesday Morning, please do come and join us, and why not bring a friend as well.
Church Cleaning for Easter: After Stations of the cross on Saturday 28th March we will be cleaning the Church ready for Easter, why not start your Holy Week preparations by coming to Stations and staying to help! This is a job for all not just a select few. Refreshments will be provided.
Stevenage Day Sunday 14th June 12– 5pm– We will have a presence at Stevenage Day this year, so please save the date. Thank you to those who have already volunteered to sit on our stall at this event between 12-4pm, to enable us to get ourselves out and about, as well as known within our community, and to those who have volunteered to help with the setting up and clearing down of the stall, we still have a few vacancies, please do consider volunteering so that we can show the community in which we serve how diverse, friendly and welcoming we truly are.
Lent Course: This year for Lent we will be looking at Holy Week Through Signs and Symbols, beginning on Wednesday 25th February until Wednesday 25th March at 7pm.
Dates For Your Diary 2026:
Sunday 22nd March The Fifth Sunday of Lent 10.00 am Sung Mass followed by refreshments
Tuesday 24th March 10am Said Mass
10.30am Tea & Toast
Wednesday 25th March 7pm Lent Course - In His Hands, Holy Week Through Signs and Symbols
Thursday 26th March 12-2pm Soup and a Roll
Saturday 28th March 10am Stations of the Cross
11am—1pm Church Cleaning
HOLY WEEK and EASTER SERVICES
Palm Sunday 10am Sung Mass with Procession of Palms
Tuesday of Holy Week 10am Healing & Reconciliation Said Mass
10.30am Tea & Toast
Maundy Thursday 7pm Sung Mass with Washing of the Feet and Watch until Midnight
Good Friday 10.30am Walk of Witness - Starting at the URC, Cuttys Lane
12pm Stations of the Cross
2pm Liturgy of the Day
Easter Day
6.00am Dawn Mass followed by breakfast
10am Sung Mass followed by refreshments
Contact Us
Rector: Reverend Karen Mitchell Email: revd.karenmitchell@btinternet.com Tel: 07596 374372
Churchwardens: Mr Mike Wilson Email: mikw505050@gmail.com Mr Eric Walton Email: enricowalton@gmail.com
Treasurer: Ms Jennifer Higgins Email: jah039@gmail.com