March 26, 2023
“Thus says the Lord God: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord... O my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon the land; thus you shall know that I am the Lord. I have promised, and I will do it, says the Lord.”
Lent offers us the opportunity to consider the death of the Lord, but also the glory of new life, the resurrection. The prophet Ezekiel has God speaking to us of our promised resurrection from the grave which awaits us all. What he wrote centuries before Christ and the resurrection of Jesus’ friend Lazarus, is a promise for us all.
We avoid speaking about death, yet know that we are to die and rise to receive our just reward.
It is that promised spirit who fills us today to offer us the gift of life. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. We are comforted by Jesus’ words, ‘Father I thank you for hearing my prayer, I know that you always hear me... I have said this that they may believe that you sent me.’
Jesus wishes that we may live, but His life follows death.
by Rev. William J. Reilly