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The New Joy of the Bridegroom
Mark 2:18-22
Petition: Lord, help me to experience that new joy that you bring to every person who follows you closely, willing to carry the cross along with you and even to be nailed to the cross. 1. The Joy of the Bridegroom The Old Testament prophets, especially Hosea and Isaiah, describe the relationship between Israel and Yahweh as a marriage covenant. Israel is the bride, often an unfaithful one, and Yahweh is the bridegroom. When Christ refers to himself as the bridegroom, he is appropriating a title that had been reserved to God alone. Clearly, then, Jesus is much more than an ordinary rabbi. What experience do we most associate with a bridegroom and the wedding feast? Joy! “Although it is true that the cross is never absent from an authentically Christian life, it is equally true that the God who meets us on that cross is the same God who created the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the mountains, laughter, sunlight, and every earthly delight” (John Bartunek, LC, The Better Part, p. 365). Christ came to bring us joy,a joy that would last into eternity. 2. Should Christians Fast? Christ says that when the bridegroom is taken away, then his disciples will fast. This is his first reference in the Gospel of Mark to his coming passion. Fasting is a way of sharing in Christ’s sufferings. Fasting, sacrifices, and acts of self-denial are also means to detach ourselves from earthly goods in order to cling more firmly to Christ himself. They make us aware of how much we need God. But these ways of sharing Christ’s cross should not make us glum followers. “Some Christians give the impression that following Christ is a somber affair, or that the Christian life consists above all of dour sacrifices and boring obligations. Joyless, dreary, dull. No wonder their friends want to stay as far away from Christianity as possible! . . . If our friendship with Christ does not fill us with contagious enthusiasm, we’re probably being a half-hearted friend” (John Bartunek, LC, The Better Part, p. 365). 3. “Behold, I Make All Things New.” The movie The Passion of the Christ puts this phrase from Revelation on Christ’s lips when he meets his mother Mary as he carries the cross to Calvary. Christ’s “narrow gate” of the cross leads to a radically new way of life. It brings an abundance of joy, a new vigor, interior peace. The new wine of the life of grace that Christ pours out on his followers must change not only their way of life, but even their internal attitudes and consciousness. As St. Teresa of Avila once put it: A sad saint is a bad saint. What are the obstacles in my life that I need to overcome in order to follow Christ with greater joy and to radiate that joy to others? Conversation with Christ: Thank you, Lord, for the new life you came to bring — your own divine life of grace inside me and each of your followers who is faithful to you. Help me to share that joy with others. I long to be a true apostle of your joy. Resolution: I will live this day forgetting about myself and seeking only to help make those around me joyful. |
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| Stop the Dithering | ||
1 Sam 15:16-23 / Mk 2:18-22
Saul was the king that the Israelites got when they decided they wanted to be like all their neighbors. As a leader, Saul had real limits, not the least of which were his fearfulness and his resulting lack of vision and purpose. The prophet Samuel confronted him: “Though little in your own esteem, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel?” Just barely! Although the Lord had promised to guide and protect him as he did the Lord’s work, Saul dithered instead, and let himself be distracted by the spoils of battle. And finally, he tried to bribe his way back into the Lord’s favor by offering lavish sacrifices. It didn’t work.
It never does. God doesn’t need our trinkets or our flowery words. God already has it all, and He can’t be bribed. The one thing God wants from us is integrity, namely, that we walk in the truth wherever that leads us. Saul could have walked that walk and had a happy life as a good king and a friend of the Lord, but he didn’t do it, because he could never bring himself to trust completely in the Lord who alone could give him the power to do it.
So how far are you willing to trust the Lord? Are you really letting him be Lord for you? What better offer are you waiting for?
Why not stop the dithering and give Him your “yes” now!