{"id":6733,"date":"2020-04-13T17:36:45","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T17:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rosesweet.com\/?p=6733"},"modified":"2022-07-16T19:15:01","modified_gmt":"2022-07-16T19:15:01","slug":"here-comes-the-bride-finally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rosesweet.com\/here-comes-the-bride-finally\/","title":{"rendered":"Here comes the bride – finally!"},"content":{"rendered":"
I was only “dating” God<\/strong><\/h5>\n

When I was in my forties, I realized that all my life I had only been \u201cdating\u201d God when he had been waiting for my full \u201cspousal\u201d surrender. I though<\/em>t I was intimate with God: regular prayers, going to Mass, and receiving the Sacraments. I could still recite the ten commandments in order and name the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. But he wanted more; he wanted all<\/em> of me.<\/p>\n

Marriage between spouses is an image that points to how deeply God longs for each soul and how\u2014like a husband\u2014he wants to woo us into a loving and permanent union. He wants to provide for and protect us and bring us home to \u201chappily ever after\u201d with him. If the soul is not ready, he waits and may even tenderly withhold some of his blessings until the soul is willing to say, \u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n

But a more casual relationship with God is easier; you get the regular companionship, the great conversation, and some of his gifts. There is no total commitment and you retain your \u201cfreedom.\u201d With marriage, your options close\u2014until death\u2014and that can be pretty threatening to some. We like to keep our options open.<\/p>\n

My submission to God had been partial and usually with an agenda l Like, \u201cHere I am, Lord, I come to get your favor.\u201d Or, \u201cHere are my problems; please fix them.\u201d\u00a0 I preferred him to be a parent, a pal, and a repair man\u2026but not a true spouse (in that analogy).<\/p>\n

It wasn’t until my failures in marriage that I awoke to the Scriptures where God is \u201cHusband\u201d to Israel and Jesus is our Bridegroom.<\/p>\n

The Saints and Spousal Love<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The problems with sex and the unquenchable aches for romance, passion, and pleasure, is that they have been separated from true love . . .\u00a0 which is a share in divine love<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The saints are those who have finally released anything that stood in the way of total union with their Bridegroom. Following this analogy, they entered naked and unashamed into the bridal chamber. Maybe not completely understanding, but completely trusting him. On fire with desire for him and even intoxicated with his love. Willing for him to love them\u2014and to love him in return\u2014in the way he <\/em>wanted.<\/p>\n

That is the kind of love for which we were made. But, like many, I tried to experience those joys apart from God. Having been \u201cengaged\u201d to God by my parents through baptism, I was like an unfaithful fianc\u00e9 and, worse, a runaway bride!<\/p>\n

Don’t be afraid of this imagery<\/strong><\/h5>\n

With this imagery, are we sexualizing mystical experiences? Are we too preoccupied with the natural and holy pleasures of marriage? No! We begin to look up and past them, seeing them as beautiful signs of something greater. We allow them to point us higher, and to integrate them once again with the spiritual and divine life that has been wrenched away from them.<\/p>\n

Look at what some of the saints have to say about love\u2014and the suffering that will come\u2014in this mystical marriage:<\/p>\n

St. Agnes<\/em> said, “Christ is my Spouse. He chose me first and His I will be. He made my soul beautiful with the jewels of grace and virtue. I belong to Him whom the angels serve.”<\/p>\n

St. John Chrysostom<\/em> told married couples to remember that Christ united himself to the Church \u201cin a spiritual intercourse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teresa of Avila<\/em> writes of ecstasies she experienced in \u201cnuptial union\u201d with Christ.<\/p>\n

Bishop Fulton Sheen<\/em> \u2013 assuring his audience that he was quoting St. Augustine verbatim \u2013 proclaimed that Christ \u201ccame to the marriage bed of the Cross, \u2026 united himself with the woman [the Church] and consummated the union forever.<\/p>\n

Marriage always brings the cross of painful self-sacrifice, which is true love.\u00a0 That’s why many avoid a full commitment with God and even within their own marriages. When we say, \u201cI do\u201d and surrender every part of our life to him, Jesus will at times ask us to pick up our cross and walk with him. But he is loving and tender and\u2014thankfully\u2014carries the heavier load.<\/p>\n

Things to think about<\/u>:<\/strong><\/h5>\n