Raising up. It happens to both the dry bones in Ezekiel and Jesus’ friend Lazarus.

The conclusion to the “Hail Mary” should give us pause. We ask the Holy Mother of God to keep us sinners in her prayer at two signature moments of our lives: now and at the time of our death.

I once heard a TV commentator say, "The difference between a rut and a grave is only about 5 and a half feet." I thought of that this week when I was reading the bold and amazing promise that Ezekiel delivers: Thus says the Lord God, "I will open your graves and have you rise from them."

A mother came up to me with her second-grade son at her side. She told me that he had something he wanted to ask me. He held on to her hand tightly. The words clearly were difficult for him to formulate.

Our Lord Jesus is the Resurrection and the life. Let us ask for pardon for the times we have turned from that life.

One truth stands firm. All that happens in world history rests on something spiritual. If the spiritual is strong, it creates world history. If it is weak, it suffers world history.