The excerpt from the First Reading for the Fifth Sunday of Lent is taken from Ezekiel 37:12 (I bet you thought I was gonna do the Gospel ‘cos it was on the rising of Lazarus. Gotcha!)
Thus says the Lord GOD:
O my people, I will open your graves
and have you rise from them,
and bring you back to the land of Israel.
“Graves” is a synonym for “being dead in your addction.” Your true self was dead; the person you were supposed to be was dead. God, however, by whatever means He used to bring you back from the dead and into your new life of sobriety, opened that grave and bid you to rise up from out of it. And furthermore, if you are a sober Catholic who returned to the Church/or converted because of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit within you was to seek out the Church, then you have been brought back to the ‘land of Israel,’ that is, the Mystical Body of Christ as the new Israel (the old one having rejected Christ as the Messiah.)
Now that you are dwelling in the Land of Israel, that is, the Catholic Church, make use of milk and honey of the sacraments: especially the Eucharist and Confession. And bring others to that Land.
I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)