Meet the Missus

As is usual for almost any passage from the book of Revelation, today's first reading (Revelation 9b-14) is a bit unusual: a bride that turns out to be a floating city that is called Jerusalem but sounds like the Church.

Not many people nowadays may see the Church as a beautiful bride gleaming with the splendor of God.

Instead, what many people see are scandals and divisions and sins and hypocrisy.

The writer of the book of Revelation saw those things too – and worse: indeed, the first chapters of the book reflect rather badly on first century Christianity (bad enough to make the Lord spit).

Yet the vision remains true as the grace of God is true, for it is by the grace of God that this assembly the Church becomes the beautiful bride of Christ.

Indeed, St. Paul says (in Ephesians 5:25) that "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."

Therefore we should never despair nor flee, but rather we need to remain always faithful, for at the end of all things, this sometimes struggling reality we call the Church - of which we are a part - will find perfect fulfillment and be ultimately revealed as the beautiful bride of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.