| The Lenten Sundays 
On the Sundays in Lent, much of the festive nature of the liturgy is missing. Music is restrained, and the Great Litany may be used in the entrance rite. The decoration of the building and the use of color is reduced and restrained. Many use the old English custom of the Lenten Array: unbleached linen vestments, unbleached material covering the crosses and pictures, and only simple symbols stenciled in black on the vestments and veils. The word Alleluia is missing from the liturgy. But above all, the Word of God read in the liturgies has a different focus. It is the reading from the Old Testament which sets the theme rather than the reading from the Gospel. These readings present us with a short course in the history of salvation: definitive moments in the past in which God’s intention to save the human race is revealed. Each year the Old Testament readings are as follows:
• Lent I: A story of the origin of the human race or the origin of the Hebrew people.
• Lent II: A story of Abraham and Sarah.
• Lent III: A story from the exodus of Israel.
• Lent IV: A story of God restoring Israel and reaffirming the covenant.
• Lent V: A prophetic vision of the kingdom yet to come.
These passages are our story and our hope. They are the heritage of the people of God, and they were fulfilled in the dying and rising of Jesus. In Jesus the cross becomes the tree of life and the flood becomes the saving waters of Baptism; the promise to Abraham and Sarah is fulfilled when God offers the only-begotten Son in sacrifice; Jesus becomes the New Covenant; our exile from God is ended as Jesus brings us home in the Resurrection; the promise made through the prophets is realized.
These passages are fulfilled in Baptism, when we are joined with Jesus in his death and resurrection. They are relived and celebrated in the Eucharist, when we are made one with him and he in us; when we are remade into the Body of Christ.
There are also three special Gospel readings used in Year A of the lectionary cycle: the Samaritan Woman at the Well, the Man Born Blind, and the Raising of Lazarus. In each of these passages the gradual process of enlightenment which characterizes those preparing for Baptism, and which characterizes also the spiritual journey of all believers, is revealed. In fact, in parishes where there are candidates preparing for Baptism, these three Gospel readings may replace the usual ones every year
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