ease read the Scripture passage before the homily.)
My brother is buried in the National Cemetery in Dayton. So is the father of Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Dayton’s poet laureate. Many others lie in that cemetery. Can these bones rise? We look over the battlefields of the world, Flanders Field, Ukraine, the jungles of Vietnam, and other sites of battles or mass graves. Can these bones rise?
Ezekiel was in exile. His people had been defeated in many battles with their bodies strewn over the earth. The remainder of them lived in exile, mourning the death of their fellow countrymen and the death of their way of life, their country, their customs and culture. Could these bones rise?
The word of God is creative; it creates. In the beginning, God spoke the word, and the universe awoke into existence. The word of God came to Ezekiel, telling him to call the dry bones back to life. Bones joined to bones and sinews and skin covered them. The Spirit, that had hovered over the waters in the creation story of Genesis, entered the bodies of the fallen and life returned to the bones in the field. Yes, these bones will rise.
The people of Ezekiel’s time would return to their land. Their customs and religious observances would thrive again. The people would again experience the powerful creative word of God.
In the many dry bones of our lives, when we are discouraged, when we are face to face with failure, whenever we wonder if our bones will rise, we can go back to Ezekiel’s vision and take heart. We Christians believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has conquered and has safely passed through the valley of dry bones and leads us into his resurrection, something Ezekiel could not have imagined, but something God can do. Rise up, dry bones.