Prophet Ezekiel

No fixed feast day in the calendar

Prophet Ezekiel: the back of the card, with its short story, lesson and a QR code that opens it in the Catholic Information app. The full text is below.

Flip the card and scan the QR code on the back to open it in the app

Ezekiel, a prophet of the exile, who ate the scroll of God’s Word and found it sweet as honey.

Who is he?

Ezekiel is a prophet of the Old Testament who lived when the Jewish people were in exile, that is, taken away from their homeland to live in Babylon. He was one of the priests, the men who took care of the worship of God (cf. Ez 1:3). The Book of Ezekiel in the Bible bears his name.

Life story

He was taken to Babylon with many other people of Judah, at the time King Jehoiachin was sent into exile (cf. Ez 1:2). One day, when he was among the exiles “by the river Chebar”, “the heavens were opened” and he saw a vision of God’s glory (cf. Ez 1:1-3).

Then, in the vision, God handed him a scroll and told him to eat it. He tells us: “I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth” (Ez 3:3). From then on, he brought God’s Word to the people. God said: “I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel” (Ez 3:17). Like a guard on the city wall, he called the people back to God when they went the wrong way.

The exiles were sad because they had lost their homeland and the Temple. Ezekiel announced hope to them. God promised: “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you” (Ez 36:26). In another vision, he saw a valley full of dry bones, a picture of God’s people who had lost hope. God told him to speak to those bones, and the spirit of God brought them back to life, a great crowd of people (cf. Ez 37:1-14). That vision showed that God would bring his people back to life and back to their homeland.

Why does the Church honor him?

Ezekiel faithfully spoke God’s Word even when the people did not want to listen, and he kept their hope alive when everything seemed lost. He announced that God himself would take care of his flock (cf. Ez 34:11-16). That promise came true in Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

A lesson for you

Every day, read a few verses of God’s Word, as Ezekiel “ate” the scroll.
When you see a friend about to do something wrong, gently remind them, like a good watchman.
When you are sad or discouraged, ask God to give you a new heart that knows how to love more.

Identifying marks

A scroll held to his chest: God told him to eat the scroll, and “it was as sweet as honey in my mouth” (Ez 3:3): God’s Word became his very life.
A riverbank with reeds and date palms: he received his vision “by the river Chebar”, in the land of exile (cf. Ez 1:1-3).
A white linen robe and a blue cloak: he was both a priest and a prophet (cf. Ez 1:3).
The valley of dry bones (*): God showed him dry bones coming back to life (cf. Ez 37:1-14).

(*) Only in some pictures and statues.

The text on this page is the card in the Catholic Information app, word for word.