19th Week in Ord. Time, Monday – 12th August 2024 – Ezekiel 1,2-5.24-28; Mt 17,22-27
Visions of Glory
The first reading from the book of Ezekiel presents the vision of the glory of God in heaven. He is the first prophet to proclaim God’s Word outside Jerusalem. He begins his prophetic work while being an exile in Babylon. His prophecies reveal his powerful experience of God revealing himself in visions. It is expressed in the oft repeated phrase … “the hand of the Lord was on him there.” (1,3; 3,22; 37,1) The symbols at the opening of the vision speak of the presence and power of God: the stormy wind, the great cloud surrounded by light, the fire with flashes of lighting. However, the exiles are lamenting the fact that they no longer can go to the Temple and be in the presence of God. He tells the people that the glory of God is not limited to the temple in Jerusalem, but the glory of God is also in God’s abode in heaven. Ezekiel’s vision presents both positive and negative experiences. It is meant to reassure the exiles that God’s glory still exists and is even better than their previous experience in the Jerusalem Temple. It is also the prelude to Ezekiel’s prophecy of the complete destruction of the Jerusalem Temple.
