In today’s Gospel, Jesus identifies himself as the bridegroom, which makes the Church the bride. In the Sacrament of Marriage, husband and wife are called to be the outward, visible sign of the invisible reality that is Jesus’ love for the Church. When a man and a woman enter into the Sacrament of Marriage, they are entering into a covenant between each other and with God, keeping Jesus Christ at the center of their marriage and, thus, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide them in their vocations as husband and wife. They are called love each other in the same way that Jesus, the bridegroom, loves the Church, his bride - freely, fully, faithfully, and fruitfully.
Unlike Saul who did not obey God, as we heard in the first reading, Jesus, of his own freewill, submits himself in obedience to his Father in heaven, obedient even to death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). Husband and wife enter into the marital bond of their own freewill. In his Passion, Jesus gave of himself completely, or fully, even to shedding his blood on the cross. Husband and wife are called to sacrifice and give of each other to each other, their very being until death do them part. In the same way that Jesus continues to be faithful to his Church and sustains her, husband and wife are called to faithfulness and chaste living in marriage. Finally, Jesus’s love for the Church bears much fruit in the world in the same way that the bond of love between husband and wife bears fruit with biological children or fruitfulness in other ways in how they live their out their marriage as witnesses of Jesus’ love for the world.
Martin Luther King, Jr., who we celebrate today, once said that “To put this new life into the old patterns of thinking was like putting fresh flowing wine in a dry and rotten bottle. It is inevitable that the bottle will break and the wine will run out. The old will not hold the new” (October 17, 1954). And so, when we give of ourselves freely, fully, faithfully, and fruitfully to God, as husband and wife give of each other freely, fully, faithfully, and fruitfully in the bond of marriage, as Jesus gives of himself freely, fully, faithfully, and fruitfully to his Father in heaven, we open our hearts to our Lord Jesus Christ and give him permission to transform our hearts from “old wineskin” to “fresh wineskin” to receive the “new wine.” We do this by attending Mass regularly to receive the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ given to us at the Last Supper and at every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and by frequent reception of the sacrament of reconciliation to prepare our hearts to receive the “new wine,” the abundant blessings, that God desires for us.
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