Reflection
The Spirit of the Lord and set me in the center of the plain, which was now filled with bones…
Imagine that you are the prophet Ezekiel and God is telling you to breathe life into these dry old bones. Ezekiel was part of the first deportation of the Babylonian Empire in 597 BC. Ezekiel preached a message of gloom and doom.
In 586 BC, there was a second deportation. Jerusalem fell, and the temple was burned to the ground. Once word came that Jerusalem had fallen and the temple had been burned, Ezekiel was moved by God to prophesy a message of hope and restoration to a hopeless people. (Center for Excellence in Preaching, RCL Week: March 23, 2020 – Lent 5A, Preaching Connections: Stan Mast, Hope, Lent, Resurrection, Biblical Books: Ezekiel 37: 1-14). Is there anything that looks dead in one’s life? A friend’s faith? Bad news of a family situation? “I will put my spirit in you and you will live…”(Ezekiel 37:14)
In the gospel, a scholar of the law asks Jesus about the greatest commandment: Jesus responds: “Love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The gospel challenges us to ask ourselves: “who needs my love today? How might we share our love to improve morale at work, provide hope to a neighbor or reach out to provide a helping hand. “ O Lord, open our hearts so that we may reach out to others in life giving love!
