The Bridegroom has come

Welcome to my blog.

The Catholic Church, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, provides us each day with a continuous reading from the Sacred Scriptures. Through them, the Lord Jesus gives us spiritual nourishment. As a result, our lives become meaningful and a joy to ourselves and others. Let us put aside some time each day to prayerfully reflect on God’s Word.

I give them here with a short reflection of my own.

I pray that you may find God speaking to you and find strength and solace in life’s journey.

Saturday 4 July 2020

The Bridegroom has come

Ps 46: 2

All peoples, clap your hands.

Cry to God with shouts of joy!

Prayer

Father in heaven, in Baptism you recreated us

in Jesus as your children and we became

children of light in a world of darkness.

Grant that we may never go back to the darkness

of unbelief and error, but remain for ever in the light of your truth.

We make our prayer through your Son,

Christ Jesus, our Lord.

First reading

Amos 9:11-15 ·

I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel; I will plant them upon their own ground.

Thus says the Lord:

On that day I will raise up

the fallen hut of David;

I will wall up its breaches,

raise up its ruins,

and rebuild it as in the days of old,

That they may conquer what is left of Edom

and all the nations that shall bear my name,

say I, the Lord, who will do this.

Yes, days are coming,

says the Lord,

When the ploughman shall overtake the reaper,

and the vintager, him who sows the seed;

The juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains,

and all the hills shall run with it.

I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel;

they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities,

Plant vineyards and drink the wine,

set out gardens and eat the fruits.

I will plant them upon their own ground;

never again shall they be plucked

From the land I have given them,

say I, the Lord, your God.

THE WORD OF THE LORD

Prayerful reflection

Is this prophecy for the end of time, when God finally makes his appearance or is it for now? It is for now and it is for the end too. God himself walked this earth in the Person of Jesus Christ. In him, this prophecy is fulfilled for all those who turn to him in love and faith. As St. Paul writes in Romans, he preaches “the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our LORD”. Jesus is the fulfilled of all the prophecies.

For those who are close to Jesus in the friendship of prayer and who in faith experience his presence, there will also be the experience of joy and peace in all the circumstances of life.

The perfect fulfilment will come according to the plan of God for his creation. “He has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” Jesus will be Lord of all creation.

While enjoying in faith the presence of Jesus now, we peacefully look forward to the fulfilment of all God’s plans. Through our faith now, we will then enjoy the vision of the perfection of creation.

Do you enjoy an intimate relationship with Jesus now and do you look forward in hope to the realisation of the Father’s plan? “Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name. thy kingdom come”.

 Psalm

Psalm 85:9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14

The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

I will hear what God proclaims;

the Lord–for he proclaims peace to his people.

Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,

glory dwelling in our land.

The Lord speaks of peace to his people

Kindness and truth shall meet;

justice and peace shall kiss.

Truth shall spring out of the earth,

and justice shall look down from heaven.

The Lord speaks of peace to his people.

The Lord himself will give his benefits;

our land shall yield its increase.

Justice shall walk before him,

and salvation, along the way of his steps.

The Lord speaks of peace to his people

Gospel Acclamation

John 10:27

Alleluia.

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;

I know them, and they follow me.

Alleluia.

____________________

Gospel

Matthew 9:14-17

Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD

Prayerful reflection

The era promised by Amos and the other prophets has already begun. Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, is God now become a man. In him the new creation has begun and there is no turning back. Like the seed planted in the field it will grow till harvest. Jesus uses another image here. He is the bridegroom. He needs a bride. Then, they will live in joy, peace and prosperity. He is looking for her now. Are you ready?

This is all figurative language to visualise the reality for us. The fulfilment of the religion of the Old Testament is the life of love with Jesus, the human embodiment of God. In this love, he gives himself to each individually and to all in unity for the joy ‘which no ear has heard, no eye has seen, nor has anyone ever imagined’.

This nuptial relationship begins now. It begins with faith in the presence and love of Jesus and is nourished by prayer as we listen to him speaking through his Word. Holy Communion is a foretaste of the oneness with the God of love, when all is fulfilled.

Can you believe your good fortune?

Ps 102: 1

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all within me, his holy name.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, may our Baptism in which we offered our lives to you,

fill us with life so that we may always be bound to you

in everlasting love.

We make our prayer of you who

live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit

one God for ever and ever.