Word to the Wise
Friday, August 19, 2022 - Friday in the 20th Week in Ordinary Time
[Ezek 37:1-14 and Matt 22:34-40]The hand of the Lord came upon me, and led me out in the Spirit of the LOrd and set me in the center of the plain, which was now filled with bones. He made me walk among the gones in every direction so that I saw how many they were on the surface of the plain. HOw dry they were! 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, here 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. [Ezekiel}
Back in the stone age - before color TV - there was a morning show hosted by Dave Garroway which often featured a performance of the Baird marionettes - puppets. At that time, Tennessee Ernie Ford had a hit tune taken directly from the image in today's first scripture from Ezekiel: DRY BONES. The refrain was: "Dem bones, dem bones, dem DRY bones! Now hear the word of the Lord!" The puppets were individual bones that were ingeniously brought together as the song's verses went: "The head bone is connected to the neck bone...." Sure enough a skull jumped up and a bone was connected to the bottom of it, until the whole skeleton came together and danced. I hope this exists somewhere on UTube because Ezekiel's vision comes to life right before one's eyes!
Ezekiel was preaching to a people in exile who had lost hope. God asks a rhetorical question: "Son of Man, can these bones live?" I think of that question when I try to help someone who has lost hope! Ezekiel is speaking to an entire "nation." Even recent events in our own country have called into question whether our national bones shall live! On a personal level, we can get to a point in our relationship with God where we feel "dried up and lifeless." I've heard people characterize their parish or diocese in that way!
It is the power of faith expressed in love that can restore life to dry bones and restore hope! God can restore bones that want to live! Those bones can come together like Ezekiel prophesies and the Baird Marionettes so graphically portray! Shall our own bones live? AMEN