“Behold, the bridegroom!”
It is not only we that watch and wait for Christ, but Christ that watches and waits for us. We remember the father in the parable of the prodigal son. The father watched and waited.
How long will we make Our Father wait and watch for us? Why does He wait and watch for us? In the early 1900’s a young teenager, while at a dance with her friends, had a mystical experience in her soul in which Jesus asked her, “How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting Me off?” We don’t have to have a mystical experience for Jesus to ask each of us, “How long will you make me watch and wait?” The teenager ceased the day and without hesitation, made Jesus watch and wait no longer; she followed the call to become a nun and became an apostle of God’s Divine Mercy. Saint Faustina was just like any other teenager. The difference is that she chose to no longer make Jesus watch or wait and when she made that decision, her life and many other lives were transformed. Through Saint Faustina, Jesus brought the message of Divine Mercy to the world. This young teenager became the first canonized Saint in the new millennium. When we stop putting Jesus off, we to will become the Saints of the new minimum.
“The eighteenth year of my life. An earnest appeal to my parents for permission to enter the convent. My parents’ flat refusal. After this refusal, I turned myself over to the vain things of life, paying no attention to the call of grace, although my soul found no satisfaction in any of these things. The incessant call of grace caused me much anguish; I tried, however, to stifle it with amusements. Interiorly, I shunned God, turning with all my heart to creatures. However, God’s grace won out in my soul. Once I was at a dance [probably in Lodz] with one of my sisters. While everybody was having a good time, my soul was experiencing deep torments. As I began to dance. I suddenly saw Jesus at my side, Jesus racked with pain, stripped of His clothing, all covered with wounds, who spoke these words to me: How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting Me off? At that moment the charming music stopped, [and] the company I was with vanished from my sight; there remained Jesus and I. I took a seat by my dear sister, pretending to have a headache in order to cover up what took place in my soul. After a while I slipped out unnoticed, leaving my sister and all my companions behind and made my way to the Cathedral of Saint Stanislaus Kostka. It was almost twilight; there were only a few people in the cathedral. Paying no attention to what was happening around me, I fell prostrate before the Blessed Sacrament and begged the Lord to be good enough to give me to understand what I should do next. Then I heard these words: Go at once to Warsaw; you will enter a convent there. I rose from prayer, came home, and took care of things that needed to be settled. As best I could, I confided to my sister what took place within my soul. I told her to say good-by to our parents, and thus, in my one dress, with no other belongings, I arrived in Warsaw.” [1]
Christ waits and watches and desires to be united with us. How do we know if we are united with Christ? We can ask a few questions: [2]
Who do we put first in our life? He is over us, and the only One to whom we bend the knee in worship. Who do we obey? He is with us as head of his Church, in which the Kingdom of God begins even now.
Who is leading us, and who is our source of power? He is ahead of us as Lord of history, in whom the powers of darkness are definitively overcome and the destinies of the world are brought to perfection according to God’s plan. Who is our hope and idea of perfection? He comes to meet us in glory, on a day we do not know, to renew and perfect the world.
If we do not want to be with Christ in this life, why would we want to be with Him in the afterlife? Many people may have the desire to go to heaven. Heaven is unity with God. What would make us want to be united with God, then, but not really care to be united with God now? Is it just because we don’t want to go to hell? We can desire God out of fear or out of love and we know that love conquers all fear, so let us then love God and love God now.
If we can answer these questions truthfully, we will come to realize that Christ should not be “a part” of our life but should be our life.
We can then pray as Saint Patrick prayed [3]:
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the judgement of Doom.
I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In prediction of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.
I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me.
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and souls,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
so that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation
Why don’t we at times feel Christ with us, before us, behind us, etc.? We can experience his nearness especially: in God’s Word in the reception of the Sacraments in caring for the poor and wherever “two are three are gathered in my name” (see Mt. 18:20).
So we need to ask:
Do I listen attentively to the Word of God in both Scripture and in prayer? We can read the daily readings, at least the daily Gospel, which is available online. When we read the scriptures we cannot just glaze over them, but to really take them in and listen to what God is saying through His Word. In our prayers are we actively listening for God’s voice? Remember we have two ears and one mouth; we should listen for the word of God twice us much as we speak to Him.
Do I receive the Sacraments? Am I taking preparation for Sacraments seriously and living out the vows that I have made in Sacraments? Am I going to Mass on Sunday? Am I going to Confession regularly? Am I receiving Jesus in the Eucharist worthily? Do I care about the poor? We see those that are both physically and spiritually poor, do we remember the words of Christ, “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40)
When I gather with my friends and others, are we gathered in the name of Jesus? In other words, what we are doing, thinking and saying? Do our actions, thoughts and words give glory and honor to Jesus?
God, our Creator knows that we are restless until we rest in Him, and so He gives us a way to be united with Him. God become man and that man, Jesus Christ, established a Church so that He could marry the Church, thus becoming one body with Her. Christ and the Church is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah. “As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so shall your God rejoice in you.” (Isaiah 62:5)
How is God going to marry His people? He will become man, and He will create a new Israel, the Church. Christ and the Church, therefore, become one body. The Church is the Bride of Christ; we are the virgin waiting and watching for the Bridegroom. We are one body with Christ as the head and us as the members. “The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body,” also implies the distinction of the two within a personal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. The Lord referred to himself as the ‘Bridegroom.’ The Apostle speaks of the whole Church and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride ‘betrothed’ to Christ the Lord so as to become one spirit with him. The Church is the spotless Bride of the spotless Lamb. ‘Christ loved the Church, and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her.’ He has joined her with himself in an everlasting covenant and never stops caring for her as for his own body. This is the whole Christ, head and body, one formed from many…whether the head or members speak, it is Christ who speaks. He speaks in his role as the head (ex persona capitis) and in his role as body (ex persona corporis). What does this mean? ‘The two will become one flesh. This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the Church.’ And the Lord himself says in the Gospel: ‘So they are not longer two, but one flesh.’ They are, in fact, two different persons, yet they are one in the conjugal union,…as head, he calls himself the Bridegroom, as body, he calls himself ‘Bride’.” [4]
[1] Saint Faustina; Divine Mercy in my Soul; Sections 8-10
[2] YouCat – Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church; Section 110
[3] Breastplate of Saint Patrick prayer
[4] Catechism of the Catholic Church - 796