D
domini_canus
Guest
My wife and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary today. At the vigil mass, we renewed our wedding vows in a beautiful ceremony just before the confection of the Eucharist.
And it got us thinking, and we discussed it on the walk home: our faith is, to put it simply, a proposal of marriage to us from God. Everything that we do and do not do, whether for good or ill, affects our status as Christ’s beloved. If we accept his proposal of marriage, then we love him and do as befits a bride awaiting her husband. Christ offers us a seat at his Wedding Banquet, but it is our choice on whether we will enter the house. All this talk of hell–yes, there is a hell, surely–but think about eternity as the Wedding Banquet; we have been given a divine proposal of marriage. If we accept, then we are freely welcome into the Feast. But we have the freedom to refuse, and if we do? Well, what can the Groom do? Force us into union with him? Of course not. And so, those who reject the proposal are not punished, per se, but rather, by their own choice, not coming to the Wedding. God is not unjust for not forcing people to assume a seat at the Banquet.
But about our renewal: my wife and I had a lovely time, and we love each other now more than ever before. What with all the pain we’ve been through–what with all we’ve overcome through Christ–our love is as deep as the love the Bridegroom extends to all of us. Where do I see Jesus? Everyday in the face of my wife.
And it got us thinking, and we discussed it on the walk home: our faith is, to put it simply, a proposal of marriage to us from God. Everything that we do and do not do, whether for good or ill, affects our status as Christ’s beloved. If we accept his proposal of marriage, then we love him and do as befits a bride awaiting her husband. Christ offers us a seat at his Wedding Banquet, but it is our choice on whether we will enter the house. All this talk of hell–yes, there is a hell, surely–but think about eternity as the Wedding Banquet; we have been given a divine proposal of marriage. If we accept, then we are freely welcome into the Feast. But we have the freedom to refuse, and if we do? Well, what can the Groom do? Force us into union with him? Of course not. And so, those who reject the proposal are not punished, per se, but rather, by their own choice, not coming to the Wedding. God is not unjust for not forcing people to assume a seat at the Banquet.
But about our renewal: my wife and I had a lovely time, and we love each other now more than ever before. What with all the pain we’ve been through–what with all we’ve overcome through Christ–our love is as deep as the love the Bridegroom extends to all of us. Where do I see Jesus? Everyday in the face of my wife.