Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

God's everlasting covenant with Abraham; Jesus claims the divine name I AM, predating Abraham; stones fly; five days to Palm Sunday.

God renames Abram as Abraham - father of a host of nations. He establishes an everlasting covenant: descendants beyond counting, kings from his line, the whole land of Canaan. Abraham and his descendants must keep this covenant. The psalm responds: the Lord remembers his covenant forever, which he entered into with Abraham. In the Gospel, Jesus tells the crowd: whoever keeps my word will never see death. They accuse him of being possessed. He responds: Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad. They protest: you're not even fifty years old. Jesus says: before Abraham came to be, I AM. They pick up stones. Jesus hides and goes out of the temple.

DEACON/PRIEST: Lord Jesus, you are the I AM who existed before Abraham and will reign beyond the end of time. PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.

DEACON/PRIEST: Christ Jesus, whoever keeps your word will never see death. PEOPLE: Christ, have mercy.

DEACON/PRIEST: Lord Jesus, you hid from stones in the temple but you will not hide from the cross. PEOPLE: Lord, have mercy.

PRIEST: The Lord remembers his covenant forever. With trust in the I AM who predates Abraham and outlasts all things, let us pray.

DEACON/LECTOR:

1. For our Holy Father, Pope Leo, and the whole Church: that she would proclaim the full identity of Christ - not merely teacher or prophet, but the I AM, the eternal God made flesh, we pray to the Lord.

2. For those scandalized by the exclusive claims of Christ: that the Holy Spirit would open their hearts to the I AM who is not one option among many but the ground of all being, we pray to the Lord.

3. For the elect preparing for Baptism: that they would understand the enormity of what they will profess at the Vigil - faith not in a philosophy but in the eternal I AM, we pray to the Lord.

4. For our parish as Palm Sunday approaches: that the urgency of these final days would deepen our prayer, our fasting, and our readiness for Holy Week, we pray to the Lord.

5. For the sick and dying: that the promise "whoever keeps my word will never see death" would be their hope as they approach the threshold, we pray to the Lord.

6. For the faithful departed: that the I AM who remembers his covenant forever would remember them and raise them to life, we pray to the Lord.

PRIEST: Eternal God, before Abraham was, you are. After the last stone falls, you are. Hear our prayers, keep your covenant, and bring us safely through the days ahead to the Easter that awaits, through Christ our Lord, the I AM, forever and ever. Amen.