We Will Rise Again!

Happy Sunday to you, Coffee Talkers!

I'm taking a Sunday break from the series on Mary, but wanted to offer you some reflection on today's Scripture readings from Mass. However, I just don't have the stamina. Lucky for you, my professor friend, Dr. John Bergsma, did have the stamina (and a doctorate to boot!), so I hope you enjoy his reflections as I did. And in case you're as tired as I am, here's my favorite excerpt to give you a little something for tonight:

The First Reading is an excellent choice: Ezekiel 37.  This is the famous vision of the dry bones, in which an entire army of skeletons is resurrected before Ezekiel’s eyes.  I only wish the Lectionary included the entire story.  However, it does preserve the most important verse:

“You shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people!”  Ezek 37:12

Most study bibles will have notes in the margin or the bottom of the page informing the reader that this passage from Ezekiel has nothing to do with resurrection from the dead, but only pertains to the restoration of the national hopes of Israel. 

It is true that it pertains to the national hopes of Israel, as Michael points out below.  However, the ancient manuscripts of Ezekiel were circulated without the notes in the RSVCE2 or NAB, etc., and the ancient readers tended to assume that, since the text explicitly describes resurrection from the dead, it actually concerns the resurrection of the dead.

HA! I love it.

As always, thanks for stopping by, and be assured of my prayers.

Peace and all good,
Leslie

P.S. Thanks to those of you who heard about the upcoming gathering of Catholic bloggers at the Vatican this May, and who suggested that I might be among them! Really, y'all are too kind. I hardly consider myself among the ranks of the 150 bloggers who will be chosen (that would be like hitting the Catholic lottery!) -- my blog is pretty new, simple, and small-time at this point, but I am grateful for the encouragement that I have received from so many readers from all over the world! The realization that something that I started just because I love writing and answering questions about the faith has helped others (and me!) in their spiritual journeys is blessing enough [though if I get an e-mail from a Cardinal inviting me to Rome for the blog meet and the beatification of Pope John Paul II, I certainly won't say no]. In any case, I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate you all, and to thank you for your kind words - flattery is the sincerest form of... Wait... Oh, nevermind. Time for bed!