for August 21
Memorial of St. Pius X, Pope

In today’s first reading the prophet Ezekiel has a vision from the Lord. He is shown a plain filled with dry bones. When asked if the bones could come to life, he tells the Lord that you alone know, perhaps inferring the Lord could bring about such life. Ezekiel is then told to prophesy over the bones to hear the word of the Lord and as he does so there is a rattling as the bones come together, but there is not yet life. Ezekiel is next told to prophesy to the spirit to breathe into them that they might come to life, and they do.

The Lord then explains that these bones symbolize the people of Israel in exile in Babylon who despairingly see themselves as dried up, without hope, and cut off. The message of the Lord to the people is that the Lord will have them rise from their graves as it were and return to their land. Some think this includes taking back with them the bones of those who died and were buried in Babylon. The Lord proclaims it will be the Lord’s own spirit within them and that the Lord will do as promised.

Later the Jewish and Christian traditions see resurrection from the dead implied here. Spirit is a key word in the passage transitioning from no spirit to the spirit being summoned to the gift of God’s own spirit, which resonates well with the Christian belief in the Holy Spirit.

In the gospel when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they were probably pleased since they differed from one another in their interpretation of the Mosaic Law. In reply to the question about the greatest commandment, Jesus gives a two-part answer. First, he quotes from the Book of Deuteronomy about the love of God included in a passage known as the shema prayer which pious Jews then and now are expected to pray daily. Then he references love of neighbor with a quote from the Book of Leviticus and concludes that the whole law and the prophets depend on these. The law and the prophets was what the Jews at the time of Jesus called their scripture, what Christians call the Old Testament.

Shortly before Jesus, Rabbi Hillel answered a similar question this way: “What you hate for yourself, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole law; the rest is commentary.” It is the linking of the two commandments that Jesus emphasizes. It comes up elsewhere, such as in a letter of John which asks if you don’t love your neighbor whom you see, how can you love God whom you do not see? An early church writer suggested loving your neighbor was the same as loving God since your neighbor was made in the image of God. A more recent author suggested love of God is barren without love of neighbor. We also need to remember that neighbor is not used restrictively; Jesus earlier in the gospel taught about loving even enemies.
—Edward O’Donnell SJ

Today’s readings can be found at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops website.