(Given at the 10:30 am Sunday Mass at OLP)
When we take a closer look at our gospel passage, we may come away confused. Were Mary and Joseph married at the visit of the angel, Gabriel? Why is Joseph referred to as Mary’s husband in one verse, but then is said to be betrothed to Mary in another? How could Joseph have divorced a woman he was betrothed to? And so on. When looking this apparent conundrum, the key, like with much of Scripture, is to look at these verses through Jewish eyes. And what do we find? Weddings in Judaism consisted of two distinct stages: kiddushin and nisuin. The first stage, the two were legally married that only death or divorce could break. Then, the husband would go to prepare a place for them, sometimes up to a year, and would come back to retrieve his wife and bring her into their new home. The second stage. Thus, the marriage process would be complete. The “betrothal” language in the passage is a poor translation, unfortunately. Mary and Joseph were legally married and could engage in marital relations, but do not, as Matthew and even Luke indicate. Jesus’ conception is by the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb because he is the eternal Son of the eternal Father. And Mary is really the virgin who conceives the messiah as we heard in our first reading from Isaiah. When she has Jesus, she is not an unwed mother. Diving deeper, I want to focus on the two wedding stages within Judaism, kiddushin and nisuin. Jesus takes this imagery and reality and applies it to himself and the Church and to you and me! In John’s gospel, Jesus says that he is leaving to go and prepare a place for us: “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” As one author puts it: “Jesus is saying to the Church that she’s already his bride, and that this life is the short space between the kiddushin and the nisuin—the wedding ceremony and the marital homecoming.” Jesus has made you, me, and the entire Church his bride by him becoming man, by his life, death, and resurrection. St. Paul loves describing the Church as the Bride of Christ. And this life that we are living is the interim before Jesus comes back to take us to himself, thus completing the marriage covenant of the Lamb. Jesus is the Divine Bridegroom, we his beloved bride. That is how much God loves us, how much he thinks of us! As his bride! With Christmas just around the corner, we should keep these things close to our hearts, as Mary did. Jesus loves your soul and my soul, as a husband loves his wife. And even more so.