Reflection on this Sunday's Readings

With the Bridegroom

Readings
Hosea 2:15-17, 21-22
Psalm 103:1-4, 8, 10, 12-13
2 Corinthians 3:1-6
Mark 2:18-22

Today's Readings draw on an ancient biblical theme - the image of God as divine bridegroom of His beloved Israel, and the covenant as a divine-human wedding pact (see Isaiah 61:10; 62:4-5). In the First Reading, God, speaking through the prophet Hosea, recalls Israel's exodus and sojourn in the wilderness as a time of betrothal in which He spoke to their heart and they responded in love (see Deuteronomy 7:6-8).He promises a new day when He will again take His bride to the desert. On that day, He vows, despite Israel's adultery, its faithlessness to the covenant (see Jeremiah 2:20; 3:8), He will wed His bride forever. He vows to make a new covenant (see Hosea 2:20) and, using a term of marital intimacy, promises that Israel shall "know" the Lord (see Genesis 4:1).

This tradition is behind Jesus' description of himself as "the bridegroom" in today's Gospel. At the time, "bridegroom" was not a term that Israelites used to describe their expected Messiah. So Jesus, again, as in all the Gospel texts in recent weeks, is being revealed as God (see John 2:1-12; 3:29; Matthew 22:1-14; 25:1-13).In His mercy, He has redeemed our lives from the destruction of sin, as we sing in today's Psalm.

This is the new covenant that Paul speaks of in today's Epistle - written not on stone tablets as the old covenant law was, but on our hearts (see Jeremiah 31:31). Today's readings remind us that we have been betrothed to Christ in baptism (see 2 Corinthians 11:2), cleansed by the bath of water and the word and called to remain holy and without blemish (see Ephesians 5:25-27) until the heavenly wedding feast of the end of time (see Revelation 19:7-9).We anticipate that feast in each Mass, drinking the wine of the new covenant made in His blood (see Zechariah 9:16-17; Isaiah 25:6; Luke 22:20).

@St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology (www.slavationhistory.com)