When we know that what Jesus desires to establish with us is not just a master-disciple, not just a friend, but a marriage relationship, and we know in our hearts that He is working hard to prepare for this relationship and for our wedding banquet in heaven, should we also start preparing ourselves to lay a good foundation for this eternal relationship?
In yesterday’s reflection, Jesus made a promise to you that He will hold a wedding feast with you in the Kingdom of Heaven, and He has already begun preparing for this wedding. What about you? Have you started? How will you prepare?
We often use the term “the wedding of the century” to describe those wedding banquets where the brides and grooms spare no effort and time to make their wedding a celebration that impresses their relatives and friends and leaves unforgettable memories for themselves. Isn’t the wedding banquet in heaven between Jesus and us more than just a wedding of the century? Jesus, the groom-to-be, has begun to prepare for the wedding banquet, so we shall not slack off!
Apart from the arrangements for the wedding banquet, spiritual preparation is even more crucial. The Church requires couples preparing for the sacrament of matrimony to attend marriage preparation courses and undergo a final evaluation by the clergy before they are considered ready for the sacrament. Those who do not participate or have poor attendance cannot receive the sacrament of matrimony within the Church. Imagine if either the bride or groom-to-be were absent from the course, can they get away with it?
If we must prepare for earthly, temporal marriages so seriously, how much more should we prepare for our eternal marriage? Can we afford to be absent from the “marriage preparation course” that our Heavenly Father has prepared for us?
Of course, preparing our hearts for the wedding with Jesus isn’t about going through a course, but rather through private sharing and communication with Him to deepen our personal relationship with Him.
The focus of many marriage preparation courses is to enhance the understanding between the engaged couple, especially concerning their views on marriage and ways of interacting with each other. These preparations are extremely important for promoting communication, reducing conflicts, and increasing mutual acceptance and understanding. Many couples fall into the trap of not understanding each other’s thoughts and emotions, harbouring hidden resentments or frustrations. These suppressed emotions can easily lead to mutual distrust, which cannot be ignored!
Have you ever had the experience of being misunderstood or misunderstanding others? The feeling of being misunderstood is quite unpleasant, isn’t it? The feeling of not being understood and feeling wronged is not something others can understand! And this misunderstanding can cause varying degrees of wounds for both parties involved. What’s even more unfortunate is that these misunderstandings, which may seem small at first, can have significant and far-reaching negative effects, even leading to relationship breakdowns, and should not be taken lightly.
Because Jesus cannot physically converse with us, we should imitate how He communicates with the Father, to encounter and know Him in prayer, especially listening attentively to the love messages that the Lord wants to tell us.
While our God listens to our grumbles and complaints, He doesn’t actively express His own hardships to us. Thus, if we are unaware of the difficulties He faces, we won’t know how to empathize with and treat Him. This can easily lead to misunderstandings in our relationship, which in turn can lead to the negative conditions we have discussed in this retreat.
As we mentioned before, if we don’t understand the nature of God, there will be a significant gap between our expectations and demands of each other.
Understanding the pain that God experiences for the sake of loving and saving us and His unspeakable hardships is crucial for us to understand God and His nature!
This further illustrates how important it is for us to spend sufficient time in prayer every day, to listen to and meditate on the messages God wants to give us and attend to His feelings, in order to better prepare us for the heavenly feast He has promised us!
These foundations also pave the way for us to more easily find God in all things!
Reflection
Have you ever thought that returning to the Father’s house is like a marriage, an eternal union with God and never to be separated from Him? Now, I invite you to experience this scene in meditation.
Are you ready to enter into a covenant with God, to be united forever? Do you think you know God well enough? What will you do to better prepare yourself?
Do you feel you have given God enough time to express His love for you, His feelings, and His sorrows? I invite you now to welcome God into your heart and let Him speak to you.
Today’s Prayer
Lord Jesus, I’ve always seen You as my God, or as the Master whom I follow, or at best, a friend, according to Your wish. But when I learned that You desire to be my other half, and that You are sincere and serious about it, it really surprised me. Frankly, I’m not used to it…
Please give me some more time to adjust. I know I need to prepare myself. When the appointed time comes, in the Father’s house, at the banquet You have prepared for me, I will promise to be united with You for eternity, never to be separated from You.
Grant me a heart that longs for You more. Make me willing to spend more time with You every day, to get to know You more, and to love You more…
You are invited to visit the YouTube channel, where all participants are encouraged to join and share their reflections.
Fundraising Appeal
Thank you for participating in this 40-day Lenten spiritual journey, Finding God in All Things. We hope you have been inspired and have benefitted from it! For the spiritual benefit of all of you, Fountain of Love and Life devotes a lot of time and effort in producing various spiritual projects every year, and all our ministries are sustained by the generous donations of our supporters. We hope you will support us with prayers and donations. Please make an online donation using the button at the top of the website Lent.FLL.cc. Thank you very much for your support. God bless!
The following is the “Farmer of Hearts: Finding God in All Things” team, including FLL staff and volunteers.
Please kindly pray for them. May God protect them and sustain their physical, mental and spiritual well-being.
Project Manager: Michael Lam
Writer: Paul Yeung
Editors: Bonny Chan, Rosa Tse
English Editors: Bonny Chan, Paul Yeung
Mandarin Editor: Anthony X.
Cantonese Narrator: Margaret Woo
English Narrator: Bonny Chan
Mandarin Narrator: Mel Lo
Audio Editors: Fonte Ip, Sander Lee, Margaret Woo
YouTube Editors: Fonte Ip, Sander Lee, Arnold Chan
Graphics: Francis Lai, Rosa Tse
Website: Patricia Young, Angela Wong
Podcast: Angela Wong
Social Media: Yollie Leung, Carmen Tsang, Rosa Tse
Theme Music:
“Friends Only” by Introvert Pianist https://www.youtube.com/@introvertpianist
“Watercolor Lilies” by Aaron Kenny https://youtube.com/@contactkennya