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Christ Church East Norwalk eNews
The Fifth Sunday in Lent

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.



FROM FATHER MONTGOMERY
Dear friends and members of Christ Church,
While it is frustrating not to see you in person, this health crisis and the attendant restrictions brings with it new opportunities for liturgy and fellowship and for caring for each other and for our selves. DO NOT COME TO THE CHURCH. However, let us find ways to continue to be the church from our homes. 

First, above all....if you have a heart or lung condition, please stay home and do not leave. At all. If you don't, please do not leave your home if you can help it. If you do, wash your hands frequently, do not come within 6 feet of another human being, and do not touch your face. That is the concise wisdom of everything I have read and heard.

Second We have a new website! It went live an hour ago. Part of the opportunity of staying home is that I learned a new skill and started from scratch. I put together a clean web page designed for those who will come to our page asking the question "what can I do at CCEN right now". Later we will add things like photos of events past, histories, ministries, links, etc. For now it is simple and on one page has everything you need. Here is a snapshot. Click on it to go to the new site. FYI the old one has been saved and all that was on it is still accessible. 
Third Go to the website to find ways to join us in worship TODAY for Evening Prayer and Stations of the Cross LIVE at 5:30pm on ZOOM. Or CLICK HERE at 5:30. Go to the website to find ways to join us in worship SUNDAY for Mass and Coffee Hour as well as to experience Last Sunday's. 

Fourth Click HERE if you have any prayer requests. This is a tough time for many either physically, emotionally, financially, or all of the above. One thing we can do for each other is pray! 

Finally Please remember to keep current with your pledge to the 2020 budget even when we are not physically together. You can do this by sending your checks to the church or by using the PayPal button on the website. Thank you so much for helping us continue to meet our parish's financial obligations during this time. 

 
in Christ,
Fr Ian Montgomery



All Meetings and Activities on campus have been postponed or cancelled until further notice. All members are asked to NOT to come to the church building. Only officers who need to carry on the business of the church will be coming to it and they should be left alone in as sanitized an environment as possible. 

ECCT CYCLE OF PRAYER:  Pray for Trinity, Hartford; St. Peter’s, Hebron; St. James’, Higganum; All Saints’, Ivoryton; the Program & Budget Committee, Faith & Order Commission; Convention planning committee; Convention worship committee.

ANGLICAN CYCLE OF PRAYER:  Today, the fifth Sunday in Lent, is the focus of the Primates’ Task Group’s call for a period of prayer and repentance in the Anglican Communion. The Bishop of West Malaysia, Moon Hing, is a member of the Task Group and has written this prayer, which the Task Group offers to the Anglican Communion for use today. 
 
Almighty God,
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Sovereign Lord of the universe, Creator of humankind,  we, your unfaithful children, are truly sorry for our sins and the lives that we have lived.
We sincerely believe and confess in our hearts that only through the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary, can we obtain Your forgiveness. 
We repent that:
In thought, word or deed, we have committed serious offences against You and our neighbours;
In laziness, despair and lust for power, we have provoked hatred, division and hurt within our communities;
In greed, deceit and indifference, we have caused serious damage, unnecessary conflict and aggravated destruction to our refugee and migrant brothers and sisters;
In selfishness, insensitivity and bias, we have encouraged and emboldened those who inflict hurt, pain and sorrow on our loved ones and families;
In the name of religion, doctrine and even of Christ himself, we have wounded believers and pursuers of holiness and faith;
In stubbornness, pride and arrogance, we have caused division and strife within Your church and among Your children;
Mercifully send Your Holy Spirit – the Spirit of order and comfort – and cleanse us from all unrighteousness; restore in us true faith in Christ which brings truth, peace and harmony; and help us to walk together with our brothers and sisters in the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of Your name.
Amen.

 

The Old Testament Lesson
Ezekiel 37:1-14

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 around 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 130
De profundis

1 Out of the depths have I called to you, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice; *
let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.

2 If you, Lord, were to note what is done amiss, *
O Lord, who could stand?

3 For there is forgiveness with you; *
therefore you shall be feared.

4 I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; *
in his word is my hope.

5 My soul waits for the Lord,
more than watchmen for the morning, *
more than watchmen for the morning.

6 O Israel, wait for the Lord, *
for with the Lord there is mercy;

7 With him there is plenteous redemption, *
and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.

The Epistle
Romans 8:6-11

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 God's 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.

The Gospel
John 11:1-45

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 God’s 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 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 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 upward 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.

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CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
2 Emerson Street (at the corner of Gregory Boulevard)
East Norwalk, CT 06855-1330


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