Lectionary Preaching Workbook
More than any other Sunday in Lent, the fifth Sunday has lost its theological and liturgical identity. Prior to the liturgical revisions which followed Vatican II, the Fifth Sunday in Lent was known as Judica (from the first verse of the Introit, Psalm 43) and marked the - beginning of the two weeks Passiontide, that concentrated on the passion, suffering, and death of the Lord Jesus. Theologically, the emphasis was on the mystery of the cross, which was proclaimed in the readings and celebrated in the liturgical activities of the third period of Lent.