Raising Up the Bones

Welcome to our daily rosary meditation. Let's begin in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let's call to mind all those we've promised to pray for. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day, He rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in er свет, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in er expressed now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ends, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Our first mystery. Many people know how the book of Genesis begins. it's pretty easy to remember since it begins with in the beginning. But fewer people know how the book of Genesis ends. It's a kind of strange ending and it has to do with the death of Joseph whose brothers, as you know, sold him into slavery but he ended up being the second most powerful man in all Egypt. But then he's dying in Egypt and his family's gathered all around him and he makes this prophecy. He tells them that they're not destined to stay in Egypt, but that God will come and bring them out of Egypt and back to the promised land, saying, and when God does that for you, you have to bring my bones back to where they belong. And after that, Joseph dies. and the book of Genesis ends with Joseph's bones in a place they don't belong and will not stay. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us to stay our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in arms now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Then said he hvad, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in arms now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our Amen. is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our second mystery. Four hundred years after Joseph's death, after Moses has confronted Pharaoh, after the ten plagues have wreaked havoc on the Egyptians, and after the first Passover meal has been celebrated, 400 years later, Joseph's prophecy was fulfilled. In the time of the Exodus, actually in Exodus 13, when the chosen people finally begin their journey toward the promised land, we hear, nor did Moses forget to take with him the bones of Joseph, who had bound the sons of Israel by an oath to carry his bones away with them when God showed his mercy to them. Joseph's bones had been left where they did not belong and were finally relocated to their appropriate resting place. But actually, isn't that the human condition? We, human beings, images of God, the fusion of matter and spirit, body and soul, flesh and blood and bones, and the living spirit, we are all torn apart by death, and our bones are left in this world to rot while our spirit is taken away Ever since Adam sin we are born to be broken But who will raise us up to heal us Who will do for us what Moses did for Joseph Who will remember our bones and bring them to their final resting place? Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. utilizz are Thou among women, blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in ourgins, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women, blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in ourgins, now and at our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. blessed art Thou among women,يةmax Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, prefect for sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, prefect for sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, prefect for sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Holy Mary, Amen. Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now, never shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our third mystery. Adam was made for glory, to be immortal. But he sinned, and he chose death over life, and his bones fell to the ground, and the flesh rotted away, and he became like all the descendants would be, a horrible, grinning skeleton, abandoned and forgotten. Now, we don't know for sure where Adam was buried, but some think his bones rest underneath the Rock of Calvary, otherwise known as Golgotha, the place of the skull. That's why in many icons of the crucifixion, you will see beneath the cross a skeleton. because Adam was not forgotten. Just as someone came to retrieve Joseph's bones and retrieve Joseph's people, so too someone came to deliver Adam and to deliver Adam's people. Someone came to deliver us from the grisly finality of death. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our hands, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our hands, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our hands, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. O Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in her Istanbul, now and at the hour of our death, Amen. O Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in her appears now and at the hour of our death, Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our lives now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our lives now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us in our insnowum at the hour of our death Amen Hail Mary, full of grace The Lord is with thee Blessed art thou among women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us in our insnowum at the hour of our death Amen Hail Mary, full of grace The Lord is with thee Blessed art thou among women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our fourth mystery Jesus while hanging on the cross cited only one psalm Psalm 22 He spoke the first verse of that psalm that we might know that the whole psalm is about Him. The first verse is, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And about halfway through the psalm, we read, They have pierced my hands and my feet, I can count all my bones. Of course, we know what it means that they pierced his hands and his feet. They did it when they nailed him to the cross. But what does it mean I can count all my bones? It means that Christ was on the way to death. That he was following Adam's path toward disintegration. That his flesh was falling from him. That he had begun the trajectory towards becoming just a skeleton. because Christ had come to raise up Adam's bones. And that meant his body would be placed in the earth like ours and his soul would plunge down, down, down into the ground, into the depths where the soul of Adam and his descendants waited. Joseph's bones waited to be brought to the promised land, But the souls of the patriarchs, the souls of all the just, they too waited to be brought to the promised land of heaven. And God has not forgotten them. God sent a Savior to raise them up and lead them out of death. But it cost him. It cost him death to do it. yet he still did it. He has come and reversed the horrible course of death reversed the course of death both for the soul and for the body and he has come to raise our bones and our spirits. But we have to be willing to follow him as the Israelites followed Moses. we have to accept his life and his leadership if we would enter the promised land our father who art in heaven hallowed be your name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us to stay our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation deliver us from evil amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our instant now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our instant now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our midst now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our midst now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our inn's now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our inn's now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. O Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our hands now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our fifth mystery. In Ezekiel 37, the prophet relates this vision. I was carried away and sat down in the midst of the plain, which was covered with bones. Round the whole extent of them he took me, where they lay thick on the plain, all of them parched, quite dry. Son of man, he said, can life return to these bones? Lord God, said I, you are the one who knows. Then he told me to prophesy over the bones. Listen, dry bones, to the word of the Lord. I mean to send my spirit into you and restore you to life. Sinews shall be given to you, flesh shall grow on you, and skin cover you, and I will put my spirit within you, and you will live, and I will place you in your own land. That's the human race, that field of dry bones. We are Adam's heirs, heirs to his sin and death. This must be the beginning of Lent, to really face death squarely, to literally confront the face of death, to feel your face with your fingers and imagine the dead, grinning skull that lies underneath. Remember, you are dust, and to dust you will return. And death is terrible, and its permanence would be even more terrible And the death of the body is just a faint expression of that even more hideous death of the soul the extermination of the spiritual life So look at death Look at sin See how badly we need a Savior. And then remember Ezekiel's prophecy, a prophecy like Joseph's, not just that our bones will be relocated like his, but that we have been given new life, divine life and we will live forever in the promised land of heaven Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil Amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in her and as now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in her and as now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed Is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us in our hands now and at the hour of our death Amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee Blessed art thou among women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us in our hands now and at the hour of our death Amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee Blessed are thou among women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God pray for us and earn it. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earn it. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us and earn it. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in hands now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in hands now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. What did that have you reflecting on, Teresa? I think it'll surprise you. I'm about to go back to Lyon for the first time in a little over a year. and when you and I were in Lyon we met a little girl that was miraculously resurrected. Maylene. Maylene. She was she was brain dead right? Brain dead for a long time. For a very long time and we met her now that she's a by now she's probably 16 when we met her she was 15 and we spoke with her for a very long time and I thinking about this is somewhat unrelated to the meditation but thinking about her miracle and the way that God saved her, it has a strange implication for her life now because it's been over a decade since she came back. True. And could you imagine having that weight on you that you feel like you kind of have to be perfect or a saint or like God saved you for a reason? I was thinking about that pressure that was on this little kid and talking to her about it. But then realizing that, especially through this meditation, it's like God has saved all of us. The fact that we have our very lives is miraculous. The fact that he promises such miracles as well and the resurrection of the body and this true conquering of death, that's for all of us. And her miracle is incredible and her story has impacted a lot of people. but she's no more important to God than anyone else. We have all been saved from death. So that was just really occupying my mind in this meditation. So out of gratitude, what concrete good action, what resolution should that recognition that God has saved us all from death, what should it lead us to? I think the number one thing it makes me think about is how much I waste and how much I shouldn't be wasting because I think when we show someone gratitude, the first thing we do is we, if someone makes us a blanket, we say, I use your blanket every day. If someone gives us something, we want to show that we use it well. So how do I use the time that God has given me? And I think this week I really need to look at what I waste. That's really good. I was thinking about how one of the simplest ways and objectively the highest way to thank God for saving us from death is just to go to daily Mass. Yeah. It's so simple. So simple. And even right in the Mass, in the Eucharistic prayer, it says, it is right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks. Such a profoundly simple thing. Mm-hmm. Let's give thanks this week. Thank you for the conversation. Thank you. Let's be apostles of friendship, good conversation, and the rosary. Share this with others.