This year’s Pastoral Letter for Advent, written by Archbishop of Malta Mgr Paul Cremona OP, Bishop of Gozo Mgr Mario Grech and Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar General of Malta Mgr Charles J. Scicluna, recalls an important aspect of this special time that prepares the Christian community for the coming of the Saviour: we, as the Mystical Body of Christ, are betrothed to Him in love and faithfulness! In fact, the title of that Pastoral Letter, issued on 24 November – the Solemnity of Christ the King –is The Feast of the Betrothal of the Lord with His People.
A closer look at the Bible certainly unveils the intimate relationship God wanted to establish between Him and the people He chose for his heart, Israel. In the Prophet Isaiah, precisely Is. 54:5, we find a straightforward description of the mystical marriage between God and man. It is the passage that speaks of God’s decision to bring back the nation of Israel to the realm of grace. “For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called”. In another passage, the same prophet personifies Sion, the holy city, which represents the entire people of Israel, as the virgin bride who becomes the object of the bridegroom’s joy. “For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you” (Is. 62: 5).
Unfortunately, Israel played the harlot with God, her ever-faithful bridegroom. So the latter let her taste what she had opted for. As the famous biblical scholar, Dr Scott Hahn, observes: “The nature of God’s justice and wrath is that He gives us what we want; He gives us what we choose; until we wake up and realise that we really desire what He calls us to choose.” The Prophet Hosea shows the depth of the bridegroom’s broken heart when He is tragically sidelined and his place is taken over by other ‘lovers’.
“She shall pursue her lovers, but not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them. Then she shall say, `I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better with me then than now.'
“And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine and the oil, and who lavished upon her silver and gold which they used for Ba’al. Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season; and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness. Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand” (Hos. 2: 7-10).
The bridegroom’s lament at his bride’s infidelity characterises a substantial part of Hosea’s book: “Plead with your mother, plead – for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband – that she put away her harlotry from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts” (Hos. 2: 2). However, the God of Israel, the bridegroom, knows mercy and gives in to His people’s misery. Moved by His merciful heart, the bridegroom establishes an ongoing relationship with the people. As a matter of fact, He promises them: “And I will betroth you to me for ever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord” (Hos. 2: 19-20).
In Jesus Christ, God is the husband and bridegroom of every individual member of that corporate body, the Church. Thus, you and I are called to engage in an active relationship with Him. Are we ready “to listen to the voice of God who loves [us]”? Do we choose to focus only on His voice? Are we ready “to make clear decisions with respect to our friendships?” Are we ready to translate our relationship with God into acts motivated by forgiveness, justice, diligence and loyalty? Is this not the meaning of betrothing the Lord?
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap