In her meditation, Mother Teresa offers us assurance thatĬhrist will again come knocking for us too: In the Song of Songs, the bride does reunite with Our initial encounter withĬhrist opens our hearts to Him, but then leads to pain as we are not able toįully enjoy His presence, causing us to become wounded, as St. Later in the chapter in Song of Songs, theīride becomes wounded by the watchmen of the city.
Myrrh was among the three gifts from the wise men and it was mixed with wineĪnd offered to Him on the cross. In the gospels, this symbolizes Jesus’ suffering and death. It is interesting that the bride’s hands are Similar dynamic: “God wants the delay in pleasure to set afire the desire” (as “renewed ardor” and increases her “capacity for God.” “God, by making us wait, Gregory the Great says the delay gives the bride a Us to experience the kind of intense longing that only arises when searchingįor something or Someone who is loved but gone. Withdrawing His presence Christ stirs us to yearn for Him ever more. Perhaps we could expand upon this insight: in
The suffering His absence causes will “purify herĬompletely,” thus preparing her for “true love and union” (see The Cantata of We surely do not want to become like the tardy bride, slow to answer the door.īut Father Blaise Arminjon, S.J., a contemporary commentator, sees a hopeful Beale’s commentary on Revelation for helping me to see the connection). ( Song of Songs 5:2-6 I’m particularly indebted to my Father G.K. My innermost being trembled because of him.Ĭalled out after him, but he did not answer me My lover put his hand in through the opening: My hair, with the moisture of the night.” This becomes apparent when we see the link between this passage and the What Christ is seeking is intimate communion with It is He who first comes knocking on our door. In Revelation, Christ is telling us that it is He who first comes seeking us. Uses the analogy of a closed door: knock and it will be opened He says (see, There, he tells us that if we ask, we will receive. Here we see an intriguing reversal of what Jesus His voice is enough to awaken our hearts (see, for example, John 10:27). We only need to respond to the reality of the Word Incarnate’s presence. Note that in this instance it matters less what He says than that His voice is heard. Rather than withdraw into ourselves, Christ speaks, calling us to openness towards Him. Another commentary identifies the knocks with the hardships of life. In His face are love repelled, and pity all but wasted in the touch of His hand are gentleness and authority.Ĭhrist knocks and speaks. There stands, amid the night dews and the darkness, the patient Son of man, one hand laid on the door, the other bearing a light, which may perchance flash through some of its chinks. Here is how the commentator imagines the scene:Į see the fast shut door, with rusted hinges, all overgrown with rank, poisonous weeds, which tell how long it has been closed. The closed door does not deter Christ coming to us, but He does ask for our permission before entering. In the scene depicted in Revelation, it is significant that the door is closed, as one nineteenth century commentator notes.
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