Contemplating today's Gospel
Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)
He asked me: «Son of man, can these bones come to life?». I answered, «Lord God, you alone know that». Then he said to me: «Prophesy over these bones, and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: See! I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life. I will put sinews upon you, make flesh grow over you, cover you with skin, and put spirit in you so that you may come to life and know that I am the Lord». I prophesied as I had been told, and even as I was prophesying I heard a noise; it was a rattling as the bones came together, bone joining bone. I saw the sinews and the flesh come upon them, and the skin cover them, but there was no spirit in them.
Then the Lord said to me: «Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus says the Lord God from the four winds come, o spirit, and breathe into these slain that they may come to life». I prophesied as he told me, and the spirit came into them; they came alive and stood upright, a vast army. Then he said to me: «Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They have been saying: Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off. Therefore, prophesy and say to them: «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, wen I open your graves and have you rise from them, o my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the Lord. I have promised, and I will do it», says the Lord.
They went astray in the desert wilderness; the way to an inhabited city they did not find. Hungry and thirsty, their life was wasting away within them.
They cried to the Lord in their distress; from their straits he rescued them. And he led them by a direct way to reach an inhabited city.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his mercy and his wondrous deeds to the children of men, because he satisfied the longing soul and filled the hungry soul with good things.
“You shall love the Lord, your God... You shall love your neighbor as yourself”
Fr. Pere CALMELL i Turet (Barcelona, Spain)Today, a teacher of the law asks Jesus “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” (Mt 22:36), the most important one is the first commandment. The answer, however, speaks of a first commandment and of a second commandment. Two inseparable rings, which are the very same thing. Inseparable, but a first one and a second one, a golden one and a silver one. The Lord takes us to the depths of Christian catechesis, because “The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments” (Mt 22:40).
This could explain the classic commentary of the two woods of the Lord's Cross: the upright beam stuck in the soil is the verticality, looking at heaven towards God. The crossbar represents the horizontality, the relations with our fellowmen. In this image there is also a first and a second. The horizontal beam would be at ground level if we did not have the vertical beam. So the more we desire to raise the level of our service to others horizontally, the taller our love for God must go. Otherwise, dejection, fickleness, demanding compensations of any kind, will get easily hold of us. St. John of the Cross says: “The more a soul loves, the more perfect it is in its love, and hence it follows that the soul which is already perfect is, if we may say so, all love, all its actions are love, all its energies and strength are occupied in love.”
The saints we know allow us to see how, in fact, their love for God is expressed in many different ways, and gives them a great amount of initiative when it comes to helping their fellowmen. Today, let us ask the Mother of God to fill us with the desire of surprising Our Lord with deeds and words of affection. Thus, our heart will be able to find a way to surprise those who live and work next to us, with some nice little detail; and not only on special days of festivity. For everyone knows how to do this. Surprise others! A practical way to think less about ourselves.
Thoughts on Today's Gospel
“You want me to tell you why and in what measure God is to be loved. I reply, the reason for loving God is God himself, and the measure, is to love without measure” (Bernard of Clairvaux)
"Nothing should come before the service of God. Such "submission" to God is not destructive of the creature. The creation is configured in such a way that it invites this adoration. The rhythm of our life only vibrates correctly if it is imbued with this force" (Benedict XVI)
“... The worship of the one God sets man free from turning in on himself, from the slavery of sin and the idolatry of the world.” (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, Nº 2097)
