Reading Notes: Mothering Sunday may be celebrated in preference to the provision for the Fourth Sunday of Lent.
Collect
Merciful Lord,
absolve your people from their offences,
that through your bountiful goodness
we may all be delivered from the chains of those sins
which by our frailty we have committed;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for Jesus Christ’s sake, our blessed Lord and Saviour,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
or
Merciful Lord,
you know our struggle to serve you:
when sin spoils our lives
and overshadows our hearts,
come to our aid
and turn us back to you again;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Readings
Joshua 5.9-12
9The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.’ And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.
10 While the Israelites were encamped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. 11On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.
This is the word of the Lord.
AllThanks be to God.
Psalm 32
1 Happy the one whose transgression is forgiven, •
and whose sin is covered.
2 Happy the one to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, •
and in whose spirit there is no guile.
3 For I held my tongue; •
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all the day long.
4 Your hand was heavy upon me day and night; •
my moisture was dried up like the drought in summer.
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you •
and my iniquity I did not hide.
6 I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ •
and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
7 Therefore let all the faithful make their prayers to you
in time of trouble; •
in the great water flood, it shall not reach them.
8 You are a place for me to hide in;
you preserve me from trouble; •
you surround me with songs of deliverance.
9 ‘I will instruct you and teach you
in the way that you should go; •
I will guide you with my eye.
10 ‘Be not like horse and mule which have no understanding; •
whose mouths must be held with bit and bridle,
or else they will not stay near you.’
11 Great tribulations remain for the wicked, •
but mercy embraces those who trust in the Lord.
12 Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord; •
shout for joy, all who are true of heart.
2 Corinthians 5.16-end
This is the word of the Lord.
AllThanks be to God.
Gospel Reading
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
AllGlory to you, O Lord.
Luke 15.1-3,11b-end
15Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’
3 So he told them this parable:
25 ‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” 28Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” 31Then the fathersaid to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.” ’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
AllPraise to you, O Christ.
Post Communion
Lord God,
whose blessed Son our Saviour
gave his back to the smiters
and did not hide his face from shame:
give us grace to endure the sufferings of this present time
with sure confidence in the glory that shall be revealed;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.