Ez 37: 21-28
Thus says the Lord God: I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms.
They shall never again defile themselves with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all the apostasies into which they have fallen, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God. My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes.
They shall live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your ancestors lived; they and their children and their children’s children shall live there forever; and my servant David shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary among them forevermore.
My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations shall know that I the Lord sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is among them forevermore.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
God’s Dream For the World
Have you ever felt sorry for God? Through Ezekiel, we sense God’s unrealized dreams and hopes and feel God’s deep yearning and desire to enter into a relationship with us. Like a couple on their wedding day, like a child imagining the perfect summer vacation, like one answering a call to religious life, initially, none can imagine anything ruining the dream. Today, God shares God’s dream for us: a life – a world – filled with unity and peace. So, what happened?
Each generation is invited to live this dream. As we enter Holy Week, may we start by asking:
Where is there division in my life?
What idols do I place before my relationship with God and others?
Who needs my forgiveness and from whom do I need to ask forgiveness?
Let us ask Jesus for the grace to create this everlasting covenant with God and with one another.
—Sue Robb is the Pastoral Associate for Justice & Life at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Kansas City, Missouri.
Prayer
May Your will be my will, O God.
May Your obedience be my obedience, dear Jesus.
May Your breath be my breath, Holy Spirit.
May your “Yes” be my yes, Mother Mary.
May your witness be my witness, Saints of Heaven.
And may Love and Peace reign forever in our hearts and in our world.
Amen.
—Sue Robb