Remembering the wedding of Jesus and his Bride
Since the Passover of
the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area
those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated
there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area,
with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and
overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out
of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” His disciples
recalled the words of Scripture, Zeal for your house will consume me.
We are very blessed here in Fort
Smith to have two of the most beautiful churches in the diocese (the state of
Arkansas): Immaculate Conception and St. Boniface. I love their traditional, cruciform style,
the stunning stained-glass windows, and the statues of saints peeking around
every corner. But I confess, I am not a
fan of modern church architecture which often looks like a Pizza Hut restaurant
(no offense to Pizza Hut), or a vacuous, air-plane hanger, just an open space
with little spiritual sense. Some people
argue that church architecture is a matter of taste, “de gustibus non est
disputandum” (there’s no arguing over taste).
They say: "I like contemporary and you like traditional; one style
is as good as another." But I
disagree. Whenever someone says that
modern churches are as good as classical churches, I always ask them, “When
your daughter grows up, where will she want to get married someday? Where would she like to walk down the aisle
on her wedding day?” Of course, we know
the answer: every girl dreams of getting married in a traditional-looking
church, not in a Pizza Hut.
But I believe our brides are really
on to something essential about churches.
That is, a bride’s preference for a church is not just a young girl’s
whimsy; rather it speaks of something spiritual and supernatural, and
ultimately points to something other-worldly.
A bride always wants to marry in a traditional church because
traditional churches were built according to a heavenly design. What do I mean? You see, traditional churches followed a
pre-set pattern based on a heavenly model, on heavenly blue-prints. Hebrews 8:5 says “Moses was warned when he
was about to erect the tabernacle: ‘See that you make everything according to
the pattern shown to you on the mountain’.”
And why did Moses have to follow these heavenly blue-prints
exactly? Because one day what would
happen in that Temple would be a wedding, and you know, everything has to be
perfect for a wedding. If you don't
believe me, just ask any mother of the bride!
You see, both old Moses and young brides understand that Temples are not
a matter of personal taste; they are a matter of divine design. God designed the heavenly Temple for the
wedding of his Son, Jesus, and his Son’s bride, the Church, and every earthly
temple should be an accurate replica of the heavenly one.
In the
gospel today, we see Jesus acting in a very uncharacteristic way. Meek, mild, gentle, loving Jesus makes a whip
out of a cord and drives people out of the Temple, turns over tables and
sternly warns people, “Stop making my Father’s house into a marketplace.” Someone sent me a “meme” (a little cartoon)
recently, that showed this same scene, with a caption that read: “If anyone
asks you ‘what would Jesus do?’ remind them that flipping over tables and
chasing people with a whip is within the realm of possibility.” But why is Jesus getting so bent out of shape
over making a little money in church?
What’s the big deal? Well, Jesus
is not only a Savior, he’s also a loving groom, and he wants the Temple to be
perfect for his Bride’s wedding day. You
see, Jesus knows Temples on earth should mirror the Temple in heaven, and they are
all ultimately designed for a wedding day, namely, Jesus’ wedding day.
Now, sometimes not even traditional
churches nor traditional-minded priests do their job well. One day a priest and a taxi driver both died
and went to heaven. St. Peter met them
at the Pearly Gates and said to the cabbie, “Come with me.” St. Peter led him to a huge mansion. It had anything you could imagine from a
bowling alley to an Olympic sized pool.
“Wow, thank you!” said the taxi driver.
Next, St. Peter led the priest to a rugged old shack with a bunk bed and
a little old television set. “Wait, I
think you are a little mixed up,” said the priest. “Shouldn’t I be the one who gets the
mansion? After all, I was the priest,
went to church every day, and preached God’s word.” St. Peter answered him, “Yes, that’s
true. But during your sermons people
slept. When the taxi driver drove,
everyone prayed!” So, just sitting and
sleeping in a traditional-looking church is not enough; you have to actually
pray while you’re here.
My friends, every time we go to
Mass on Sunday, we should go with the attitude we’re attending a wedding. Just imagine how well everyone would dress:
the men would be in suits and ties, ladies would be in dresses, boys and girls
would look cute as a button, and not like Dennis the Menace. We all wear our best to a wedding, don’t
we? And people pay attention and pray at
a wedding, too. They pray the happy
couple will not mess up saying their vows, and married couples remember their
own vows and pray that God will help them be faithful to each other. And if the priest is a little more like that
taxi driver, he’ll help people think about the heavenly wedding day between
Jesus and his bride, and not put them to sleep.
That’s why
Pope St. John Paul II called marriage the “primordial sacrament,” because it’s
the fundamental pattern of every sacrament: baptism, confession, Communion,
etc. should all have seeds of marriage in them.
Every sacrament, especially the Mass, should make us feel like we’re
going to a wedding. That’s why every
church building should be one a bride wants to get married in. And that’s why Jesus got upset, because
people didn’t treat the Temple according to his divine design for a
wedding. And that’s why taxi drivers who
get people to pray get a higher place in heaven than priests who put people to
sleep.
Have you ever read the novel
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh?
It’s about a young man named Charles Ryder, who falls in love but never
marries his beloved, a girl named Julia.
At the end of the book he returns to Julia’s home, a mansion in England,
and stops to pray in the family chapel.
He reminisces about the purpose of a chapel as he stares at the red
flame of the tabernacle light, he says: “Something quite remote from anything
the builders intended has come out of their work…a small red flame…and there I
found it this morning, burning anew among the old stones.” You see, Charles realizes his love is not all
lost: he didn’t have Julia’s love but he still had Jesus’ love; he could look
forward to the heavenly wedding day. In
the very last line of the book, a junior officer tells Charles, as he comes out
of the chapel, “You’re looking unusually cheerful today.” Every time we come out of the church, we
should look “usually cheerful,” too.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
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