Commontide
Liturgical Color: White/Gold
The 5th Sunday in Lent (Passion Sunday)
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 this 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.
Lent
You bid your faithful people cleanse their hearts, and prepare with joy for the Paschal feast; that, fervent in prayer and in works of mercy, and renewed by your Word and Sacraments, they may come to the fullness of grace which you have prepared for those who love you.
Most liturgical texts are from the Book of Common Prayer (2019) of the Anglican Church in North America.
The New Coverdale Psalter, © 2019 by the Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.
Prophetic Witness and Renewer of Society
Ecumenical Commemoration
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was a Baptist minister of Atlanta and Montgomery who led the American civil rights movement from the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 until his assassination in Memphis. He preached the love of enemies from the age of twenty-three to the last night of his life, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, and died on April 4, 1968, at thirty-nine. The Episcopal Church commemorates him on that day as Pastor and Martyr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He earned his doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University and was ordained to the Baptist ministry. As pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, he emerged as leader of the Montgomery bus boycott (1955-1956), which catalyzed the modern civil rights movement. King championed nonviolent direct action, drawing on the example of Mahatma Gandhi and the teaching of Jesus. He delivered his most famous address, 'I Have a Dream,' during the 1963 March on Washington. In 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the youngest man at that time to receive the award. He was assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis on April 4, 1968, while supporting striking sanitation workers. His legacy transformed American law, culture, and Christian witness.
Prophet and spiritual leader of nonviolent resistance; advocate of beloved community and racial reconciliation; witness to the moral demands of the gospel in the face of injustice; symbol of courageous Christian witness in the 20th century.
The 5th in Lent (Passion Sunday)