“Thus says the Lord God: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them” (Ez 37:12). I will open your graves. The prophet Ezekiel is known for the intense imagery of his prophecy. I will open your graves. Is that a creepy image? A hopeful one? Or an image for the people of Israel at the time of Ezekiel that doesn’t say too much to us today?

 

I will open your graves. God’s promise to his people in exile has several beautiful pieces. It’s a promise of life in the midst of death: “I will open your graves…and have you rise from them.” It’s a promise that both reveals and imparts God’s identity to his people: “Then you shall know that I am the Lord…I will put my spirit in you.” Finally, it’s a promise that God will never go back on: “I have promised, and I will do it.”

That’s fine for the people of Israel. But what about us? I don’t have graves in my life…or do I? We all have graves in our lives. We all have areas, big or small, of darkness, sin, weakness, wounded-ness. What this reading tells us, and what Lent is all about, is that these “graves” are actually the beginning of the Good News. My “graves” are the place of God’s promise to me—his promise of life in the midst of death, his promise that imparts his life to me right where I find myself, and his promise that will never, ever be broken.

Today, take a moment to look at one of your “graves” and ask God to meet you there. Actually, he’s already there. He’s waiting for you with these words on his lips: “I will open your graves…and have you rise from them.”

Sr. Emily Beata Marsh, FSP, entered the Daughters of St. Paul in 2007 and since then has served in St. Louis, Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles, and Alexandria, VA. She is currently stationed in Rome preparing for her final vows.

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