Nuptial Sufferings

A Reflection on the Second Reading for Sunday, October 6th, 2024:
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Hebrews
2.9-11 

​We do indeed see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the Angels, now crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many sons and daughters to glory should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one. For this reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.

​Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Nothing that the Church decides is accidental. Have you ever spent the time with the intricacies of the liturgical calendar and all of the intentional discernment and divine inspiration that goes into each moving piece? Sometimes I find it helpful to remember this when a reading is difficult to understand – I look at it in its context. 

Today when I look at the second reading from Hebrews about Christ’s perfect offering through suffering and death, at first it may seem miles away from both the first reading and the Gospel, which talk about the union of husband and wife in marriage. The first reading tells us about God creating us male and female, and that the two leave their father and mother and become one flesh. In the Gospel, Jesus Himself quotes this passage from Genesis when He is asked about marriage and divorce. One connection between these passages that is not included in today’s reading is when Saint Paul teaches: a man shall leave his father and mother and become one with his wife, saying “I am referring to Christ and the Church” (Ephesians 5:31-32). So where do Christ’s sacrifice and death fit into this discussion of marriage and union?

The answer is simple, and almost too beautiful to believe: on the cross, Christ offers all of Himself to us – His bride, the Church – and in that sacrifice we are united to Him as completely as a husband and wife are united in marriage. There’s so much beautiful theology here that fills out this reality – about Christ Who is one person uniting within Himself both a human and a divine nature, and how this unites us to God Himself – but that’s beyond my scope of expertise. 

Where I do sit in meditation regularly is with this image of Christ the Bridegroom on the cross. As I’ve spent time with this I’ve noticed how in Genesis, “the man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife.” How does Jesus fulfill this on the cross? Doesn’t He offer His blessed mother to Saint John from the cross: “Behold your mother”? And before He takes his last breath, doesn’t He cry out “Father, why have you forsaken me”? Jesus is never truly separated from the Father, since they are one, but He does exclaim this. And when they pierce His side and blood and water flow out – the saving blood of His death and the waters of Baptism – the Fathers of the Church have always seen this as the birth of Christ’s bride, the Church, from His side – just like Eve was born from Adam’s side in the beginning. 

Jesus’ offering is “perfect.” It is complete, with nothing held back. This is the nuptial union that a husband and wife experience when they give all of themselves, body and soul, to each other. As the Bridegroom offers all of himself to us, will we, as the bride, the Church, joyfully receive Him? Will we offer ourselves in return? 




Sister Angela Burnham

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