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A reading from the book of Ezekiel. Thus
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says the Lord God, I will take the
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children of Israel from among the
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nations to which they have come and
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gather them from all sides to bring them
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back to their land. I will make them one
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nation upon the land in the mountains of
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Israel, and there shall be one prince
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for them all. Never again shall they be
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two nations, and never again shall they
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be divided into two kingdoms.
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No longer shall they defile themselves
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with their idols, their abominations,
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and all their transgressions. I will
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deliver them from all their sins of
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apostasy, and cleanse them so that they
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may be my people, and I may be their
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God. My servant David shall be prince
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over them, and there shall be one
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shepherd for them all. They shall live
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by my statutes and carefully observe my
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decrees. They shall live on the land
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that I gave to my servant Jacob, the
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land where their fathers lived. They
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shall live on it forever. they and their
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children and their children's children
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with my servant David their prince
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forever. I will make with them a
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covenant of peace. It shall be an
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everlasting covenant with them and I
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will multiply them and put my sanctuary
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among them forever. My dwelling shall be
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with them. I will be their God and they
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shall be my people. Thus the nations
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shall know that it is I the Lord who
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make Israel holy when my sanctuary shall
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be set up among them forever. The word
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of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
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A reading from the Holy Gospel according
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to John. Glory to you, O Lord. Many of
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the Jews who had come to Mary and seen
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what Jesus had done began to believe in
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him. But some of them went to the
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Pharisees and told them what Jesus had
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done. So the chief priests and the
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Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and
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said, "What are we going to do? This man
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is performing many signs. If we leave
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him alone, all will believe in him, and
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the Romans will come and take away both
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our land and our nation. But one of
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them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that
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year, said to them, "You know nothing,
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nor do you consider that it is better
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for you that one man should die instead
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of the people, so that the whole nation
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may not perish." He did not say this on
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his own, but since he was high priest
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for that year, he prophesied that Jesus
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was going to die for the nation. And not
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only for the nation, but also to gather
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into one the dispersed children of God.
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So from that day on, they planned to
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kill him. So Jesus no longer walked
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about in public among the Jews, but he
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left for the region near the desert to a
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town called Ephraim, and there he
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remained with his disciples. Now the
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Passover of the Jews was near, and many
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went up from the country to Jerusalem
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before Passover to purify themselves.
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They looked for Jesus and said to one
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another as they were in the temple area,
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"What do you think that he will not come
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to the feast?" The Gospel of the Lord.
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Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
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there are moments in human history when
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all seems lost. When the structures we
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knew crumble, when dreams shatter like
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glass against the floor, when the very
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identity of a people seems to be erased
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by the inexurable force of time and
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It was precisely in this kind of moment,
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in the abyss of despair, that God spoke
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through the prophet Ezekiel, bringing a
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message of hope so radiant that it still
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illuminates our paths today. The people
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of Israel were scattered, fragmented,
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Judah in the south, Israel in the north,
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separated not only geographically, but
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in their practices, in their politics,
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in their very understanding of who they
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were as God's people, and were still
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they were exiled, torn from their land,
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from their temple, from the very roots
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of their identity. If you have ever felt
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the pain of separation, of
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fragmentation, of loss of identity, then
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you understand, even if only partially,
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the suffering of that people. And it is
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in this context of devastation that God
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through Ezekiel makes a promise that
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defies all human logic. I will make them
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one nation in the land on the mountains
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of Israel. They will all have one king,
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and they will never again be two
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nations. Never again will they be
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divided into two kingdoms. Pause for a
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moment to appreciate the audacity of
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this promise. We are talking about
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centuries of division, rivalry, and
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conflict. We are talking about deep
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wounds, historical betrayals and
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ingrained hatreds. And God says, "I will
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unite them not through military force,
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not through political manipulation, but
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through a fundamental transformation of
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their hearts. They will be my people,
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and I will be their God."
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This simple phrase contains the secret
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of all true unity. It is not by finding
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what we have in common that we truly
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unite, but by recognizing that we all
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belong to the same God, that we are all
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loved by the same father, that we are
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all called to the same divine purpose.
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But the promise goes even deeper. God is
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not merely promising to gather his
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people. He is promising to purify them.
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I will cleanse them from all their
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impurities and from all their idols. The
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idols here are not just statues of stone
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or wood. They are all the things we put
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in the place of God. Our unbridled
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ambition, our attachment to material
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possessions, our relentless pursuit of
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validation and recognition. And then
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comes the most beautiful part of the
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promise. I will make a covenant of peace
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with them. An everlasting covenant.
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Peace. Shalom. Not just the absence of
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conflict but the fullness of well-being,
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And this peace would not be temporary,
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subject to the whims of politics or
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changes in leadership. It would be
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eternal, grounded in God's own
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I will establish my dwelling place among
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them. What an extraordinary promise. The
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God of the universe, the creator of
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heaven and earth, promising to dwell
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among his people. This is humanity's
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ultimate aspiration since the fall in
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Eden to be once again in God's presence
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to walk with him [music] to live in
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intimate communion with the creator.
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Now let's turn to the Gospel of John and
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see how this ancient promise begins to
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be fulfilled in a way no one could have
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foreseen. Caiaphas, the high priest, is
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presiding over an urgent meeting of the
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Sanhedrin. Jesus has just resurrected
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Lazarus and the religious authorities
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are in a panic. If we let him go on like
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this, they say, everyone will believe in
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him. And the Romans will come and
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destroy both our holy place and our
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nation. What a tragic irony. They are so
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concerned with preserving the temple and
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the nation that they are willing to kill
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the very Messiah who came to fulfill
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Ezekiel's promise. [music] They are so
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focused on protecting their religious
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and political structures that they are
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blind to God's work happening right
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before their eyes. And then Caiaphas,
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thinking he was merely being pragmatic
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and political, uttered a prophecy he
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himself did not understand. It is better
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for one man to die for the people than
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for the whole nation to perish. John
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explains that Caiaphas did not say this
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on his own authority, but as high priest
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that year, he prophesied that Jesus
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would die for the nation. But the
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prophecy goes further. John adds, "And
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not for the nation only, but also to
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gather together the children of God who
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were scattered abroad." Here it is
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Ezekiel's promise finding its
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fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Not only
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gathering the tribes of Israel, but
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gathering all the children of God from
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every nation, tribe, language, and
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people. See how God works even through
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the malevolent intentions of men.
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Caiaphas was planning a political
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But God was orchestrating the greatest
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demonstration of sacrificial love. the
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world has ever seen. The good shepherd
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was about to give his life for the
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sheep, not only of Israel, but of the
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whole world. This is the eternal
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covenant that God promised through
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Ezekiel. Not a covenant based on rituals
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or external laws, but a covenant sealed
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in the very blood of the son of God. A
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covenant that knows no national
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boundaries, that transcends race and
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culture, that unites all believers in
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one body, the church and the sanctuary
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that God promised to establish. It is
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not a temple of stones in Jerusalem. It
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is Christ himself resurrected, dwelling
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in us through the Holy Spirit. Paul
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tells us, "Do you not know that you are
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God's temple and that God's spirit
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dwells in you? Ezekiel's promise, I will
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put my dwelling place among them. finds
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its full fulfillment in every Christian,
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in every faith community where two or
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three gather in the name of Jesus. My
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dear brothers and sisters, we live in
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times of profound division. Our families
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are fragmented. Our communities are
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Our own church, the body of Christ,
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often seems more divided than united.
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Differences of opinion on politics,
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liturgy, social, and moral issues
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separate us from one another. But
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today's readings call us to a greater
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vision. God is at the work of gathering
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his scattered people. He is purifying us
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from our idols, including the idol of
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always being right, of always having to
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win arguments. He is establishing his
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dwelling place among us, not in physical
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structures, but in humble hearts that
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open themselves to his presence. And the
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price of this reunification,
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it was fully paid on the cross. Jesus
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died not only for the Jews, not only for
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the Gentiles, but for all humanity. He
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broke down the wall of separation
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between us. In Christ, there is neither
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Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor
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female. We are all one in Christ Jesus.
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But this unity is not automatic. It
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requires something of us. It requires
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that we abandon our personal idols, our
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pride, our need for control, our
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insistence on doing things our way. It
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requires us to recognize that we are all
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sinners in need of God's grace. It
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requires us to see one another not as
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adversaries to be overcome, but as
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brothers and sisters for whom Christ
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died. The purification that God promised
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through Ezekiel is not a one-time event,
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but an ongoing process. Each day, we are
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called to draw closer to God, to allow
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his spirit to cleanse our hearts, to
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leave behind the things that separate us
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from him and from one another. And as we
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do this, we begin to experience the
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covenant of peace that God promised. Not
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a superficial peace that avoids
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conflict, but a deep peace that comes
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from knowing that we are reconciled to
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God and called to be agents of
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reconciliation in the world. You see,
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Jesus death was not just to save us
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individually, although it certainly does
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that. It was to create a new people, a
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holy nation, a royal priesthood. It was
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to gather the children of God who were
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scattered and make them a united family
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under one shepherd, one king, one Lord.
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And we, my brothers and sisters, are
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part of this family. Every time we
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gather for the Eucharist, we are living
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out Ezekiel's promise. God's sanctuary
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is truly in our midst. In every
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celebration of the mass, heaven and
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earth meet, the divine and the human
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embrace. It is not just bread and wine
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that we receive but Christ himself who
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gave his life to bring us together. So
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what will we do with this truth? How
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will we respond to this sacrificial
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love? How will we be agents of the unity
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that God desires for his people? It
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begins with small steps. Forgiving that
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family member who hurt us. Reaching out
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to that brother or sister in faith with
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whom we had a disagreement. Praying for
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our enemies instead of harboring
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resentment. seeking common ground
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instead of focusing on differences,
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remembering that all of us, all of us
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were bought at the same precious price,
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the blood of Christ. And when we feel
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tempted to despair, when division seems
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insurmountable, when the fragmentation
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of our world weighs us down, let us
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return to the words of Ezekiel, I will
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make a covenant of peace with them, an
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everlasting covenant. This is not a
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conditional promise. It does not depend
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on our limited abilities or our
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imperfect faithfulness. It is a promise
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anchored in the eternal and unchanging
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nature of God. The same God who promised
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to gather the scattered tribes of Israel
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is gathering his children today from all
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corners of the earth. The same Christ
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who died to gather God's children
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continues his work of reconciliation
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through us, his body here on earth. The
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same spirit who dwelt in the temple of
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Jerusalem dwells in us, making us living
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sanctuaries of the most high God. May we
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live up to this calling. May we be
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builders of bridges instead of walls.
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May we be agents of unity instead of
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division. May we reflect in our
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communities, in our families, in our
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church the beauty of God's vision, a
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united, purified people living in
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eternal peace in the presence of their
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God. And may we never forget the price
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that was paid to make this possible. One
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man died for the nation. One man died to
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gather the scattered children of God.
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This man was Jesus Christ, our Lord, our
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Savior, our shepherd, our King. May the
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grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love
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of God the Father, and the fellowship of
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the Holy Spirit be with you all, uniting
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us in one heart and one soul for the
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St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in
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battle. be our protection against the
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wickedness and snares of the devil. May
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God rebuke him, [music] we humbly pray.
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And do thou, O prince of the heavenly
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host, by the power of God, cast into
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hell Satan and all the evil spirits who
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prowl throughout the world seeking the
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ruin of souls. Amen.
