Jesus Loves His Bride
Hosea 2: 14-20 :: Ps144 :: Mt 9:18-26 :: 10 July 06 SBA
by Fr. Matthew Habiger OSB
In today’s readings we see how Jesus relates to women. Jesus is a special man, and the way he relates to women is a model for the rest of us men. After all, Jesus designed the woman, when He fashioned and created Eve, the first woman. All womanhood, [The Germans use the term, “the eternal feminine,” das ewig weiblich.] is patterned upon Eve, the prototype of all women. And Jesus designed her.
Eve is the perfect companion, a suitable helpmate, for the man Adam. She would be his soul mate, by bringing the special qualities of her person to the relationship. The special gift, the special genius, of the woman is her appreciation of the complexity of a person. The woman is very close to persons. She intuits our needs, our pains, and our feelings. Think of the close relationship between a mother and her child, between a wife and her husband.
Jesus came to bring eternal life to women, as well as to men. In the Gospel today we find Jesus healing two women. One was suffering from a flow of blood since she was twelve years old. The other was a twelve-year-old girl who had died, and Jesus brought her back to life. Jesus can respond to the needs of a woman better than any other man. He has the capacity for love, like no one else. And he can give life, like no one else.
In the reading from Hosea, God uses the woman as a personification of all mankind. The relationship between God the Father and his people is similar to that of a marriage. Just as the relationship between Jesus, the Son of God, and his Church is similar to marriage. God wants the complete and unconditional love of his bride. He wants his love to be freely returned, without reservation.
In the Garden of Eden we find that Adam was alone and frustrated. There was no one to whom he could relate at a deep level. That is why God designed the woman, Eve, for him. Now we find that God too, in a certain way, feels alone and incomplete. He deeply desires other persons to relate to, other persons who can enter into a communion of love and life with Him. He is jealous when his bride abandons him for other suitors, like Baal, power, pleasure, and wealth.
We can spend much time reflecting upon the imagery that God uses to explain the relationship between Him and us, the image of marriage. If we want to understand God’s plan for marriage, then reflect upon the relationship between God and us, reflect upon his fidelity, his generosity, and his steadfast love for his bride. Then we can understand why a 50% divorce rate today is so contrary to God’s plan for marriage, and why contraception and sterilization are so contradictory to God’s plan for spousal love. We can then understand why single sex unions and cohabitation are an attack upon marriage and the family.
We need more prophets today like Hosea, and like John Paul, to proclaim God’s awesome plan for marriage. One such group is the Pope John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family. I am very happy to learn that this institute will now have a permanent home at Catholic University of America, in the former Keane Hall, now to be renamed the Fr. Michael J. McGivney Hall.
Prayer of the Faithful
- That the Church may help understand God’s steadfast love for us through the imagery of marriage, we pray to the Lord …
- That civil leaders will promote the importance of the family, and defend the institution of monogamous marriage …
- That we may all find ways to strengthen good marriages, we pray to the Lord …
- That troubled couples may find the encouragement and support they need from other couples who enjoy a successful marriage …
- For all those who prepare young couples for marriage, and sustain them in their difficult periods …