DEM BONES,DEM BONES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOSWaJPC2yY&NR=1

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.

WHY HAVE YOU NOT COME TO ME?

This morning, 1/15/2008, I had a very emotionally explosive experience. I invite you all to spend a moment or two with me.
I do not want you to think that this is one of those "chain letter" type of stories. This is a true narration of an honest person's Christian encounter. I know the person who is telling the story. This is a catechist and a Bible Study Session Leader in our parish. This is a true story.

She said:
I would like to tell you what happened between me and my next door neighbor. We have been neighbors for more than 15 years now. We have always been civil and we have never had any untoward confrontations. We have come to know one another as neighbors and have always been rather friendly. I have told her that I am Catholic and she sees the kind of life that I and my husband lead. Naturally, I also see what kind of life she leads. She is a clean person. She has never called herself anything but "Christian", never anything but that. It has also been very evident that she allows any and all species of missionaries to come into her house. It mattered not whether they were Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons or other devoted missionaries. She and I never mentioned anything about our religious convictions other than to tell one another our labels; "Catholic", "Christian."

One day, some four months ago, one morning, my neighbor asked me, "Why have you never come to my door to ask me to talk about your religion?" All I could say was that I prayed for her every day and I was leaving our meeting about religion up to God.
She told me that she knew that I am a prayerful person. She said that she hoped that I was praying for her. She then asked me, "Would you come to my house and pray with me?"

I immediately said that I would. It has now been slightly more than three months that I have been going to her house for two hours, one day per week to pray the rosary (wow), to read the Scripture readings of the week as they are scheduled in the Catholic Liturgy and to exchange convictions about the meaning of the Sacred Scripture. I have noticed that I am now the only one going to her house. I am waiting for the day when she will ask me to accompany me to Mass.

I have never tried to force any belief on her, but she is full of questions. I only answer her from the bottom of my heart and from the pool of faith that I have. She always seems to be comfortable with my very personal answers. I think that she sees that they are soul answers and appreciates that. It makes me happy that after all these 15 years of words and lip service about God that my simple "from the heart" answers seem to carry more weight than those automatic lip service answers that she heard before.

It has only been slightly more than three months. I pray every day in anticipation of what God is going to ask of me next in this matter. Please pray for me so that I will be ready.

This is a true story. I heard it just today, 9 hours ago.

This loving disciple of Jesus doesn't need you to cry at her funeral. I've told you this story to let you know that you don't have to cry at my funeral, because after hearing this, I think that I have already died and gone to heaven.