The Bridegroom Comes! A reflection on the Great Wedding Feast That Christmas Brings

The coming of Christ at Christmas was as an infant. And thus we don’t usually think of wedding imagery related to the First coming of Jesus. Yet, since the first coming of Christ is certainly fulfilled, we now focus more on his Second coming, of which the first coming is a sacramental reminder.

Thus, in Advent our longing and thrill are also and essentially directed to his glorious second coming. And now Mother Church, the New Jerusalem, our Mother looks for her groom Jesus to come again all his glory:

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God…I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean was given her to wear.” (Rev 21:2-3; 19:7-8)

And this longing remains until Mother Church, Christ’s beautiful bride, hears those words from him: Surge amica mea, speciosa mea et veni! (Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one and come!) (Song of Songs 2:10). Till then, her longing cannot be quenched, when he comes again, in all his radiant beauty and majesty. Till then, she longs, she looks and she waits.

Though some of her children have attained to this glory, she waits and longs till the number of her elect children are complete and she, in her fullness, will go to be with her spouse for ever in beatific glory.

One of the great Advent hymns of the Protestant tradition picks up this bridal theme and “weds” it with advent longing. This particular translation is a masterpiece of English translation (from the German). It is both biblical and artistically beautiful:

Yes there is a great wedding feast in every liturgy, and its culmination looks to the glorious second coming of Jesus. This Christmas look to your wedding garments which the Lord gave you at baptism, a garment which, in the baptismal liturgy your were told to bring unstained to the great judgment seat of Christ. The Bridegroom comes! Let us go out to meet Christ the Lord (cf Matt 25:6)

And this longing remains until Mother Church, Christ’s beautiful bride, hears those words from him: Surge amica mea, speciosa mea et veni! (Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one and come!) (Song of Songs 2:10). Till then, her longing cannot be quenched, when he comes again, in all his radiant beauty and majesty. Till then, she longs, she looks and she waits.

The 'Mother Church' doesn't make it past Rev. 17...

Thus, in Advent our longing and thrill are also and essentially directed to his glorious second coming. And now Mother Church, the New Jerusalem, our Mother looks for her groom Jesus to come again all his glory:

The New Jerusalem is not an Earthly city...It is a heavenly city...It is not a State, Country or religion...And it most definitely is not the Catholic religion...

The author of this piece is intentionally, or not, misleading your religion by running verses together that don't belong and leaving out a very important verse...

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

The Earth is gone...It no longer exists...The oceans are gone...The Vatican is gone...Jerusalem is gone...There will be no church...

There will be a kingdom with a King...No popes...

A Wedding takes place in chapter 19...Jesus wipes out the bad guys on Earth...Jesus reigns in Jerusalem for a thousand years...Satan rises and battles God...Satan loses...God destroys the Earth and a new City is created for those in heaven for eternity...

It's one thing to believe it or not believe it...It's quite another to remove the relevant scripture and run them together to make it say what it doesn't say...

God has a pretty serious warning for those of you who do that...

I chose the second Sunday of ordinary time on purpose to get married. Its the one with the wedding feast at Cana, where Jesus performs the first miracle, making the wine to keep the party going.

I wanted to get married around Christmastime, on a Sunday morning at 7am Mass. This only made sense to me, having attended the early bird mass every Sunday since birth. My priest was so funny about the whole thing. He worked it into the homily like a sideshow, surprising everyone not related to me who just showed up for regular church that morning.

I even asked him to make it quick, because everyone knows the 7am is the “quickie” in/out with no singing. I didn’t want to mess that up for the same people I saw every week.

The church is the assembly of the saints...

We have been telling you guys that for ages...And you correct us and insist that the church is an organization of clerics...And, comprised of the wheat AND tares...

The real church is invisible because what is holy in a Christian is inside of the Christian...Can't be seen...

That most assuredly continues to exist after the second coming.

There will be no need for THAT church...The church is the body and bride (to be) on Earth but there is no church as we know it in heaven...No need for faith...No need for hope...No going into the world to preach the gospel...No confessions...The church on earth will have no functioning purpose in heaven...

Who do you think populates the new Jerusalem?

Christians...

By the way, the church today, right now is "a kingdom with a King," and the King's name is not Francis or Jorge, but Jesus. The Pope is merely the King's representative deputy, like the Governor General of Canada is to Elizabeth II.

The only kingdom we have right now is the spiritual kingdom...It has no buildings...It has only temples and those temples are the bodies belonging to believers in Jesus Christ...And Jesus has no representative on Earth other than the Holy Spirit...No self appointed pope...

Jesus is the King but he is not exercising that authority in the physical realm at this time...He is currently our spiritual King...Over a spiritual church...

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