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The Eternal Marriage to Come
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.” Matthew
9:14–15
In Isaiah 54:5 and Hosea 2:16–20, God is portrayed as the divine
Bridegroom who espouses Israel. By invoking this imagery, Jesus
reveals His divine identity as the Bridegroom who establishes a new
relationship between God and His people—a relationship initially
characterized by joy, intimacy, and celebration rather than
sorrow.
However, Jesus quickly adds a sobering note: “The days will come
when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will
fast.” This verse points directly to His coming Passion and death,
and to our interior participation in His Passion. It is for those
moments that fasting produces a necessary preparation for the sense
of loss and sacrifice we are called to make throughout life.
Everyone loves a wedding, especially when celebrated by
faith-filled people who anticipate a fruitful life together. As the
bride walks down the aisle, her face radiates joy, and the groom
waits eagerly at the altar. A holy marriage reflects the ultimate
destiny of Christ and His Bride, the Church. Fidelity, unity,
fruitfulness, consolation, and permanence are all aspects of the
communion we are invited to share with our loving God.
These beautiful aspects of marriage prophetically anticipate what
is to come, especially when the Bridegroom returns in glory to
usher in the New Heavens and the New Earth. They also represent
what we are invited to experience, by grace, during our earthly
pilgrimage toward the final union in Heaven—a relationship with God
that is grounded in joy, intimacy, and celebration.
During this pilgrimage, the Bridegroom is at times “taken away.”
Spiritually speaking, this means that Christ occasionally permits
His consoling presence to be withdrawn from the soul. He does this
not because He abandons us, but because, in His wisdom, He desires
our growth in virtue, faith, and spiritual maturity through trials.
Such purification is our participation in Christ’s Passion, which
both cleanses and restores the soul, transforming us into the new
creation we are called to be by fully dying with and in Christ, so
as to share in His new life.
When the sensible consolations of grace diminish, the soul
experiences spiritual fasting. Although initially painful, this
fasting instills a greater urgency to seek Christ through deeper
prayer. If we continually felt God’s consoling presence, our love
might become self-centered—loving God only because He comforts
us.
In the Old Testament, fasting primarily expressed external
repentance. Jesus transforms fasting into a spiritual exercise that
strengthens the soul during trials, dryness, and loss. Habitual
fasting, such as weekly abstinence, disciplines our interior life,
enabling us to love God even when consolation is absent.
When the Bridegroom is “taken away,” our spiritual senses sharpen,
and our longing for Christ grows more fervent. Thus, Christ’s
apparent absence becomes an opportunity for greater intimacy,
guiding us toward a more profound, selfless love—seeking Christ
Himself purely for His sake.
Reflect today on how you respond when God seems distant. Do you
turn toward Him with increased trust and prayer, or do you
withdraw? When God seems distant or when your prayer feels dry, do
you recognize the value in those moments? Resolve to engage in
forms of physical fasting and other penitential acts as a way of
training yourself to enter spiritual fasting with hope and
strength. Let spiritual fasting become an act of pure love,
preparing your heart for the eternal marriage feast to come.
My Lord and Bridegroom of the Church, You call each of us, Your
sons and daughters, into an eternal marriage of pure union and
fidelity with You. Form and purify me by allowing me to share in
Your Passion, so that my love may become holy, and I may love You
with the same love with which You love me. Jesus, I trust in
You.
Image: word on the mountain, by vukkostic
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