July 4, 2026

Gospel Reflection: Faith Born of Encounter

https://mycatholic.life  

Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time  

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Matthew 9:14–15

In Isaiah 54:5 and Hosea 2:16–20, God is portrayed as the divine Bridegroom who espouses Israel. By invoking this imagery, Jesus reveals His divine identity as the Bridegroom who establishes a new relationship between God and His people—a relationship initially characterized by joy, intimacy, and celebration rather than sorrow.

However, Jesus quickly adds a sobering note: “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” This verse points directly to His coming Passion and death, and to our interior participation in His Passion. It is for those moments that fasting produces a necessary preparation for the sense of loss and sacrifice we are called to make throughout life.

Everyone loves a wedding, especially when celebrated by faith-filled people who anticipate a fruitful life together. As the bride walks down the aisle, her face radiates joy, and the groom waits eagerly at the altar. A holy marriage reflects the ultimate destiny of Christ and His Bride, the Church. Fidelity, unity, fruitfulness, consolation, and permanence are all aspects of the communion we are invited to share with our loving God.

These beautiful aspects of marriage prophetically anticipate what is to come, especially when the Bridegroom returns in glory to usher in the New Heavens and the New Earth. They also represent what we are invited to experience, by grace, during our earthly pilgrimage toward the final union in Heaven—a relationship with God that is grounded in joy, intimacy, and celebration.

During this pilgrimage, the Bridegroom is at times “taken away.” Spiritually speaking, this means that Christ occasionally permits His consoling presence to be withdrawn from the soul. He does this not because He abandons us, but because, in His wisdom, He desires our growth in virtue, faith, and spiritual maturity through trials. Such purification is our participation in Christ’s Passion, which both cleanses and restores the soul, transforming us into the new creation we are called to be by fully dying with and in Christ, so as to share in His new life.

When the sensible consolations of grace diminish, the soul experiences spiritual fasting. Although initially painful, this fasting instills a greater urgency to seek Christ through deeper prayer. If we continually felt God’s consoling presence, our love might become self-centered—loving God only because He comforts us.

In the Old Testament, fasting primarily expressed external repentance. Jesus transforms fasting into a spiritual exercise that strengthens the soul during trials, dryness, and loss. Habitual fasting, such as weekly abstinence, disciplines our interior life, enabling us to love God even when consolation is absent.

When the Bridegroom is “taken away,” our spiritual senses sharpen, and our longing for Christ grows more fervent. Thus, Christ’s apparent absence becomes an opportunity for greater intimacy, guiding us toward a more profound, selfless love—seeking Christ Himself purely for His sake.

Reflect today on how you respond when God seems distant. Do you turn toward Him with increased trust and prayer, or do you withdraw? When God seems distant or when your prayer feels dry, do you recognize the value in those moments? Resolve to engage in forms of physical fasting and other penitential acts as a way of training yourself to enter spiritual fasting with hope and strength. Let spiritual fasting become an act of pure love, preparing your heart for the eternal marriage feast to come.

My Lord and Bridegroom of the Church, You call each of us, Your sons and daughters, into an eternal marriage of pure union and fidelity with You. Form and purify me by allowing me to share in Your Passion, so that my love may become holy, and I may love You with the same love with which You love me. Jesus, I trust in You.

Audio recording: https://youtu.be/5upuv1aSSL0?si=r7fbxWABIj2TLC8P