by Father Gary Coulter, director, Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House
At the Easter Vigil, seven readings recount the drama of Salvation History, and one of those passages comes from the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek 36:16-28).
Ezekiel dates to the early sixth century before Christ. For about 150 years, the political fortunes of the Jewish kingdom had been in decline. And in 587 B.C. came the final catastrophic defeat, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, and the beginning of the great exile for the Jewish people who were taken to Babylon in deep despair, powerless over the situation that befell them.
It is against this bleak background that the hand of God came upon Ezekiel while the Jews were in captivity in Babylon. Ezekiel has a haunting and dramatic vision – a vision of a valley filled with white skeleton bones, something like a battlefield of unburied corpses. What a vision of despair, death and decay!
In his vision, the reluctant prophet Ezekiel was commanded by God to prophesy to these bones, to revive them. As he did so, the bones began coming together with the eerie clamor of rattling bones.
And as he continued to preach, sinews knitted the bones together; flesh and then skin clothed the corpses. But they were still lifeless. Only when the breath of God, the Spirit of God, came from the four extremities of the earth, the bodies come “to life again and stood up on their feet, a great and immense army.”
While we might now understand this as a prefiguration of the resurrection, the Jews of that time would have seen this vision of an immense resurrected army representing the Jewish people, especially those in captivity and slavery in Babylon. It was a prediction and hope of being reconstituted as a people in their own land and they would know that the one true God alone had done this.
Through the prophet, God assures the exiles that they will live again. It is an image and promise of the return of the Jews from exile. They will experience new life, life that springs from God’s own Spirit. The prophet urges his devastated nation to look beyond the present catastrophe to a future that vindicates God’s justice and promises the restoration of the nation through the Spirit of God.
Thus you can also understand why Christians have proclaimed this story of Ezekiel prophesying to the dry bones during the liturgy of Easter night. It offers a stirring image of God’s regenerative, restorative, renewing power for this life and for all eternity. Throughout the centuries, believers have taken heart in Ezekiel’s vision, because we believe it to be our story as well. We believe in the power of God’s forgiveness, the capacity of Christ to revive us and bring us to life, even when everything around us seems to announce darkness, destruction, death, dissolution and despair.
This absolute conviction is what I must lean on in times of crisis. When we don’t know what the future holds, how can we place our trust in God? We can be sure that no matter what happens, God will always be with us. We’re never alone with God; He has a plan for our lives and He works with us and uses all the events of our lives as a means of grace.
So I muster the little faith I have and pray for more faith. I summon my wavering trust and make an act of trust. I beg and plead for the courage I need to surrender, to hope against hope. And I suggest you adopt a motto, a creed, a hymn; something you can repeat during these times, such as
“Fear not, for I am with you”
(Isaiah 41:10)
“For God, all things are possible”
(Matthew 19:26)
“I am with you always, until the end of the age”
(Matthew 28:20)
“Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God”
(Rom 8:38)
“Jesus, I Trust in You!”
(St. Faustina)
Many of you watched Pope Francis last Friday bless the world from St Peter’s. He reflected on this darkness the whole world is living.
“For weeks now it has been evening,” said the pope. “Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air, we notice it in people’s gestures, their glances give them away.”
Yet in the midst of this darkness, Jesus is calling out to us to be converted, calling us to faith. “You are calling on us to seize this time of trial as a time of choosing,” said the Holy Father.
Now is the time to listen to the true desire of your own heart for holiness, as Pope Francis said, this is: “a time to choose what matters and what passes away, a time to separate what is necessary from what is not.”
Father Coulter is starting a weekly email series, “How to Pray.” Visit goodcounselretreat.com and click on ‘Subscribe to the eNewsletter’ in the bottom right corner.
Application: Prayer Exercise
Find a time and place to put yourself in God’s presence. Pray “Come, Holy Spirit, Come.” Read Ezekiel 36:16-28 and ponder the restorative power of God.
Pick a scripture verse to be your motto. Look up the wider passage where that verse comes from. Memorize the verse. Slowly repeat “Jesus, I Trust in You” or a favorite memorized prayer to conclude.
