Give it a listen for old times' sake
What better time to let you know, once again my spirituality of life here and life after here. Today (April 10, 2011) together with millions of other Catholics I heard the story of Ezechiel prophesying to the bones of the departed. The vision that he had was set up by God to encourage him to preach a message of hope to the despairing Israelites who were still captives of the Persians. It was Ezechiel’s mission to make the People of God aware that they were still alive and that they should not die in spirit because God would set them free. After all, He had done it once before when He guided their forefathers out of Egypt, right? In this vision, God was also revving up Ezechiel so that he would be an effective missionary to the people.
Here, I am going to dip into the homily that I heard this morning because I think that the priest (Arnel Macabio, M.S.) hit it on the head. He said that sometimes we are the same as dead. Our bodies are walking around, but our spirits are disconnected. Dead, as it were. We are empty shells. It could be because of a lack of physical energy; it could be because of a tired spiritual energy; it could be because of serious sin that we are carrying around in our conscience. In short we are reduced to being cadavers in the cemetery of the Lord. There we lie, just outside the walls of the Eternal Jerusalem with neither energy nor desire to drink in the Grace of God, get up, grab a partner and dance our way through the Holy Gate.
We, after Ezechiel, have heard the Word, we have been filled with the Spirit sent by Jesus. All the more reason why we should not spend too much time as empty shells. If Ezechiel can animate the dusty bones of the Chosen People, the Resurrected Christ has already provided us with the strength and hope that we need to stick by Him and make the Kingdom happen. Now.
If Ezechiel could reawaken the despairing Israelites, the Risen Christ can keep us awake, take us by the hand and walk us through the Garden and introduce us to the Heavenly Jerusalem. So, let’s all wake up, help one another to LIVE and if we do that, you won’t have to cry at my funeral and I won’t have to cry at yours, whichever one comes first.
Here, I am going to dip into the homily that I heard this morning because I think that the priest (Arnel Macabio, M.S.) hit it on the head. He said that sometimes we are the same as dead. Our bodies are walking around, but our spirits are disconnected. Dead, as it were. We are empty shells. It could be because of a lack of physical energy; it could be because of a tired spiritual energy; it could be because of serious sin that we are carrying around in our conscience. In short we are reduced to being cadavers in the cemetery of the Lord. There we lie, just outside the walls of the Eternal Jerusalem with neither energy nor desire to drink in the Grace of God, get up, grab a partner and dance our way through the Holy Gate.
We, after Ezechiel, have heard the Word, we have been filled with the Spirit sent by Jesus. All the more reason why we should not spend too much time as empty shells. If Ezechiel can animate the dusty bones of the Chosen People, the Resurrected Christ has already provided us with the strength and hope that we need to stick by Him and make the Kingdom happen. Now.
If Ezechiel could reawaken the despairing Israelites, the Risen Christ can keep us awake, take us by the hand and walk us through the Garden and introduce us to the Heavenly Jerusalem. So, let’s all wake up, help one another to LIVE and if we do that, you won’t have to cry at my funeral and I won’t have to cry at yours, whichever one comes first.
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