As God’s holy people, we are partakers of salvation, but also witnesses of His righteousness and faithfulness in an unbelieving and sin-contaminated world.
In Ezekiel 36, God makes a glorious promise marvellously fulfilled by the New Covenant – “I will pour clean water over you and wash away all your sins….I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees.”
Who does not appreciate the gift of clean water to wash our bodies after the sweat and toil of the day? I write this on a steamy monsoon day in Mumbai, India, where, by midday, I can feel beads of perspiration drip down my face as I walk outdoors to and from the market or church. I eagerly wait for the moment I can splash my face with clean, cold water, and spray the grime and mud off my feet.
Jesus cleanses us
Before the Last Supper, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet and lovingly wiped them with a towel. He then gave Himself as bread at the table. Finally, He sacrificially laid down His life at the cross.
Today, all three readings call our attention to the priceless gift of being cleansed, sanctified and made new by God, with souls washed clean of the world, its passions, its ungodly attachments and its broken promises.
The promise of Ezekiel is fulfilled when, as cradle Catholic Christians, we are washed of our original sin by the waters of Baptism. We continue to be cleansed of sin and its attachments by the sacrament of reconciliation. Our bodies and souls are further sanctified and nourished by receiving the Eucharistic Body and Blood of Christ.
As He promises in this chapter of Ezekiel, it is God Himself accomplishes this work in us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Under the Blood
At the first Passover, the Israelites were commanded to mark their doorposts with the blood of an unblemished lamb. They were to roast the sacrificial lamb and eat its flesh at the covenantal meal.
The blood splashed on the doorposts and lintels covered, in fact, the names of the members of the Hebrew household, carved into the stone. Thus, they were saved from the angel of death who passed through the land that fateful night.
As partakers in the New Covenant we are wedding guests, invited to the Lamb’s Supper, receiving in Communion the living flesh of the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. Eating the fruit of the tree of life, our body and soul are covered by His blood, thus marking our flesh as His own, preparing us for eternal life, saved from eternal death. How great is our privilege!
There is another fascinating way in which we see fulfilled the great promise of Ezekiel 36:26 “I will take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
Heavenly Food
One of the strongest claims in favour of Catholicism are Eucharistic miracles – referring to a supernatural event with a consecrated host – most often, with the transformation of that host into human flesh (typically, from the ventricle of a human heart). These bonafide and laboratory-certified miracles prove to the modern believer (not that such proof is necessary) that the promise of the Lord from Ezekiel – to take our hearts of stone and give us a heart of flesh – is even more supernatural than we could imagine. In the Eucharist, the Lord gives us His very own sacred heart to feed on, so that we may become holy like Christ Himself.
But partaking of the Eucharist lightly, and without reflection and repentance, would make us akin to the improperly attired guest who gets ejected from the wedding banquet in today’s Gospel from Matthew.
St. Augustine, when commenting on this parable, said: “So what is this wedding garment? The apostle Paul tells us: ‘What we are aiming at… is the love that springs from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith’ (1 Timothy 1:5). That is the wedding garment.”
A Pure Heart
What are the doorposts of our life allowing in? Let us examine, with sincerity, areas where we have rejected sanctifying grace and have persisted in worldliness. With thanksgiving, let us daily entreat God for hearts of flesh to replace any stoniness. Lastly, let us rest in God’s super-abundant grace, remaining clothed in genuine faith and love, so that we may partake worthily of the eternal banquet with joy.
