Several weeks ago, I heard Fr. Bob McGraw, in a homily, preach on how to have peace in our souls. It stuck with me, because I want, (and I bet you do to), my soul to be peaceful. I want to be able to face anything the comes my way, no matter how trivial or troubling it might seem, with a calm, purposeful response. I want to have emotional reactions driven by pride, worry, or a need to control what’s going on around me. To know that in the end, things will work out and everything will be ok. I want this peace.
“For our souls to be at peace, Fr. Bob said, “it takes living a lifestyle of trust in Jesus.” I’ve pondered that over the weeks contemplating what this lifestyle might look like. Reflecting on readings from Isaiah and the Gospel of John, I’ve come to realize that this lifestyle is a relationship, a giving and receiving relationship, a relationship that looks like marriage.
In the book of the prophet Isaiah (Is 62:1-5) we hear Isaiah’s prophecy and God’s promise to marry his people, rejoice and take delight in them as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride. This prophecy comes to its fulfillment in John’s Gospel (Jn 2:1-11), with Jesus at the wedding in Cana.
When the wine ran out Mary went to her son and told him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus response of, “Woman how does your concern affect me?” seems a little harsh but reasonable since it was the bridegroom’s responsibility to supply the wine. But Mary kind of puts Jesus on the spot by telling the servers to, “Do whatever he tells you.” And by doing as they are asked; Jesus supplies large amounts of the finest wine and by doing so takes on the role of the bridegroom.
We don’t hear much about the bride in this story. That’s because we are the bride, Jesus is our bridegroom. At the wedding at Cana, through Jesus, God marries his people just like he said he would.
Jesus is the spouse of every soul. Together we are the bride of Christ, and each of us independently is a bride of Christ. Even men are a bride. That’s because the love Jesus has for each of us is a spousal love. Spousal love is total, complete, self-giving, sacrificial, unitive, brings forth new life, and lasts forever. When it comes to loving us, Jesus holds nothing back. He gives all his love. He struggled, he suffered, he gave his life, and rose from the dead to be one with us and give us new life, forever. Jesus truly is our bridegroom.
Jesus gives and does everything to save his bride. The pledge of his life is his marriage proposal to us, and we are free to accept it or not. We accept the proposal and receive his love by spending time with him. We speak with him as we go through the places and events of our day. We pour out our heart and soul to him, sharing with him all our hurts, troubles, worries, and concerns. We laugh with him, cry with him, and argue with him. We listen, are forgiven and are consoled by him. We receive and are filled with his love, we respond by loving him back.
We love Jesus in return when we love others. We take the love he has for us and the love we have for him and share it with those Jesus brings into our lives. We love others the way he loves us, with a spousal love. We become for them… we become for others... and as a result, new life in the form of new relationships is born.
When we strive to respond to Jesus’ love pledging our life to him by spending time with him and doing his will, and when we do our best to love others the way he loves us, we begin to live that lifestyle of trust. We know for certain that things will work out and we can be sure that everything is going to be ok. We know this because we are not alone but are one with our bridegroom who is for us, who is on our side, and who will never give up on his bride…ever. Our souls are peaceful. We are made new. We have new life.
A new year, a new you, and a peaceful soul begins with accepting Jesus’ proposal to you, “Will you marry me?” What is your response?