Reflection on September 15, 1982

https://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/jp2tb93.htm

I think sometimes it is very difficult for us to comprehend that God knew exactly what His plan was from the beginning. He knew about the fall and He knew Christ would come and be the redeemer. Christ, as the center of salvation history, is the climax of God’s plan that we see laid out in the Bible. Christ coming, His establishing and union with the Church, is the marriage that brings salvation. Part of God’s preparing us for this salvation was the gift of marriage from the “beginning”, formed and instituted in a way that we could digest it and therefore more fully accept the salvation that would be brought by Christ and His Church.

I was thinking about this more and how the analogy fits so well when you look at Salvation history. If you see man, specifically the Jewish people, as the future bride that is in preparation for marriage, you can see that the Old Testament is essentially the maturing of the bride. The bridegroom could not marry the bride until she is prepared and ready. We hear, during Mass, “in the fullness of time”. This is when the bride is prepared for the bridegroom. Christ comes to marry man, to establish the Church, His bride, and fully unit with her, to give Himself fully as a gift to the bride. The bride, fully prepared and matured over the years by God’s teaching through the laws and the prophets, is fully ready to receive that gift. The Head (Christ) and the Body (Church) unite and “become one flesh”. And from that union, that one flesh, fruit comes forth, which are those that “accept through faith the gift offered to them in Christ”, the “gift of the fruits of redemption”. I think SJPII is pointing to the analogy and the importance of marriage as the essential earthly sign that explains the history and method of Salvation better than any other sign. This not only shows the importance of the union with Christ and the Church, but clearly points to the importance of our understanding and respect and striving to live out the vocation of marriage the way the God established it, the way Christ preached about it, the way it was meant to be from the beginning.

I wrote all that above and then read paragraphs 6-8. It goes back into the Old Testament and looks at the idea of marriage and adultery and how that fits into the analogy because of God’s covenants with the Jews. Those made me take a step back and wonder if God’s covenant with the Jews was like a marriage in which they were unfaithful, how He could marry the Church with Christ. That would throw water on the idea of one marriage. A possible loop hole or explanation may be the idea of betrothal. God was, or allowed Himself to be betrothed to the Jewish people, though they were unfaithful, He remained faithful, until the appointed time when they were ready for the marriage to occur. SJPII says we are going to go more into the Old Testament next, so we will see if there is a better explanation.