My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. // Ezekiel 37:27
The dreaded sound of rattling plastic beads on wood floor was followed by a loud wail, an opening door, and little feet charging to me in the kitchen.
“I spilled my Perler beads again!” my six-year-old son cried to me. “Well, let’s go clean them up,” I said resignedly and followed him back through the living room to his bedroom. If you have ever picked up scattered fuse beads, you will realize that it is nearly impossible to grip them with adult-size fingers and even harder to not grab up every other little speck of whatever is on the floor. In fact, it is something like what the Lord is doing in the readings today.
In the prophet Ezekiel’s time, the Israelite people had been scattered into exile. They were hopelessly dispersed across the region, losing track of their own laws, forgetful of their covenant with God. Yet, the Lord promises in the First Reading (Ezekiel 37:21-28) to bring all His people back to Him at some future date. But the task seems impossible since the people are hopelessly scattered, like Perler beads scattered across a messy bedroom floor.
The high priest Caiaphas unwittingly prophesies how this is going to happen in the Gospel (John 11:45-46): Jesus is going to die instead of His people. But He is not just going to save His people; He will take the people from the nations by taking the other nations as well.
So, in essence, I am saying that all of us Christians who have no Jewish ancestry are like the scraps of paper on my son’s floor. But does that really matter? We know from the beginning when our first parents sinned that God intended to make a way to save all of humanity. He chose to do it through one nation. And that one nation made way for all of us.
We are now all the Lord’s people, and He is our God. His dwelling is with us. Sister, as we enter into Holy Week, open yourself up to this reality. The Lord has saved you, and His dwelling is your soul.
His dwelling is with us. // Susanna SpencerClick to tweet
Susanna Spencer holds a master's in Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville and is the Content and Theological Editor for Blessed is She. She is a freelance writer, editor, and speaker living with her philosopher husband and four kids in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She loves reading theology, attending beautiful liturgies, cooking delicious food, and casually following baseball. She is the author of the Gospel Studies including Seek His Kingdom: A Meditation on Matthew; narrator for Found: Advent With the Good Shepherd and Rescued: Lent With the Lamb of God; a contributing author to our children’s devotional prayer book, Rise Up; and Theological Editor of the Blessed Conversations Studies. Find out more about her here.
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