22 August 2014 - dry bones

Hail, Holy Queen

He made me walk among the bones in every direction
so that I saw how many they were on the surface of the plain.
How dry they were!

This morning the LORD Jesus wants to give us more of his life.  He knows that we have been down here in "the desert wilderness" for what seems like forever.  He knows that we are looking for "an inhabited city" in which we can dwell but have not yet found anything lasting.  This morning he wants to give us "times of refreshing" (cf. Act. 3:19) so that we can continue on toward the city God has prepared for us, a better country, a heavenly one (cf. Heb. 11:16).

He wants to lead us by "a direct way" to this city, not a way that is circuitous or crooked.  He wants to satisfy the longing soul.  He wants to fill "the hungry soul with good things."  He does this by gathering us to himself.  He says "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst" (cf. Joh. 6:35).

He wants to knit our scattered bones together again. He wants to cover us with new muscle and flesh.  He wants to breathe his very life into us through his Spirit.  

Then you shall know that I am the LORD,
when I open your graves and have you rise from them,
O my people!

And this is not just a promise for the last day.  This is not just the resurrection of the body.  We are meant to live by the power of his resurrection today.  

But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you (cf. Rom 8:10-11).

He wants us to come to believe him and trust him when he says, "I am the LORD."  He wants us to live on the strength of his promise.  The resurrection is God's promise for our future and at the same time our strength  It is our bread and our water for our desert pilgrimage toward our heavenly homeland.  It gives genuine power and makes a real difference.  Only in response to this power can we truly heed the command to "love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." Only when his love animates our dry bones can we love our neighbor as ourselves.  And since the "whole law and the prophets depend on these" let us open our hearts to this gift, his very breath.

He gives us his very breath through Mary.  The Holy Spirit comes upon her.  Within her this metaphorical breath of God becomes the literal breath of God for us.  He conquers death, but not apart from her.  On this feast of her Queenship let us receive through her the blessings he longs to give us.  As Saint Amadeus of Lausanne writes in this morning's office of readings:

Able to preserve both flesh and spirit from death she bestowed health-giving salve on bodies and souls. Has anyone ever come away from her troubled or saddened or ignorant of the heavenly mysteries? Who has not returned to everyday life gladdened and joyful because his request had been granted by the Mother of God?