Feb. 4 - Ezekiel Prefigures the Resurrection

From the First Lesson for this day, Ezekiel 37:1-14

I feel bad for our fruit trees. They stand bare in the cold of winter, leafless, fruitless, and the wind speeds through the branches. It has been plain cold this winter and the trees have no protection from the temperatures.

When I read Ezekiel's familiar prophecy of the dry bones, my mind went right to the fruit trees. His vision of the Valley of Dry Bones is remarkably familiar: bare in the arid valley, lifeless, faithless, and exposed to the elements. They have no protection from the desert heat.

Soon however, the winds will change. The snow will turn to rain, the ground will soften and out of sight, roots will begin to drink. Sap will begin to flow, buds will appear and new twigs will spring from pruned branches. And before I know it, there will be fruit on the trees.

A bit more ordinary than the "foot bone connected to the ankle bone," but just as miraculous, I think.

This rejuvenation of the Valley of Dry Bones is a perfect foreshadowing of the Resurrection:

"Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves... And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD."

The Resurrection of Christ came at a time when the Jews were in a spiritual Valley of Dry Bones. And when a person meets Christ, the valley of life is dry as well.

The promise of the Resurrection is that our grave is not an end, but a beginning: as St. Paul avers, sin stings no longer, death has no victory.

When the grave of sin has been opened, we live again by the power of the Holy Ghost. God's Spirit guides and directs our lives, like the wind blowing and connecting bones and sinews in the Valley of the Dry Bones, like the warm winds of Spring, renewing the life of my dormant and fruitless trees.

God, please let the wind of the Holy Ghost blow through the dead bones of my life. Renew my faith, restore my soul, as Thou didst connect the bones of the valley seen by Ezekiel. And, Lord, may I again share the life and vision of the Risen One, in Whose glorious Name I pray. Amen.