Today’s post will be long on quotes and short on commentary. The first passage is from the Prophet Jeremiah:
10Â But as for you, have no fear, my servant Jacob, says the Lord,
    and do not be dismayed, O Israel;
for I am going to save you from far away,
    and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
    and no one shall make him afraid.
11Â For I am with you, says the Lord, to save you;
I will make an end of all the nations
    among which I scattered you,
    but of you I will not make an end.
I will chastise you in just measure,
    and I will by no means leave you unpunished.
12Â For thus says the Lord:
Your hurt is incurable,
    your wound is grievous.
13Â There is no one to uphold your cause,
    no medicine for your wound,
    no healing for you.
14Â All your lovers have forgotten you;
    they care nothing for you;
for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy,
    the punishment of a merciless foe,
because your guilt is great,
    because your sins are so numerous.
15Â Why do you cry out over your hurt?
    Your pain is incurable.
Because your guilt is great,
    because your sins are so numerous,
    I have done these things to you.
16Â Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured,
    and all your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity;
those who plunder you shall be plundered,
    and all who prey on you I will make a prey.
17Â For I will restore health to you,
    and your wounds I will heal,
says the Lord,
because they have called you an outcast:
    âIt is Zion; no one cares for her!â
(Jeremiah 30:10-17)
Next we have the prophet Hosea:
The Lord said to me again, âGo, love a woman who has a lover and is an adulteress, just as the Lord loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.â 2Â So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer of barley and a measure of wine. 3Â And I said to her, âYou must remain as mine for many days; you shall not play the whore, you shall not have intercourse with a man, nor I with you.â 4Â For the Israelites shall remain many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or teraphim. 5Â Afterward the Israelites shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; they shall come in awe to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
(Hosea 3:1-5)
Then we turn to the Prophet Isaiah:
Thus says the Lord:
Where is your motherâs bill of divorce
    with which I put her away?
Or which of my creditors is it
    to whom I have sold you?
No, because of your sins you were sold,
    and for your transgressions your mother was put away.
(Isaiah 50:1)
Sing, O barren one who did not bear;
    burst into song and shout,
    you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate woman will be more
    than the children of her that is married, says the Lord.
2Â Enlarge the site of your tent,
    and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
    and strengthen your stakes.
3Â For you will spread out to the right and to the left,
    and your descendants will possess the nations
    and will settle the desolate towns.
4Â Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
    do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
    and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more.
5Â For your Maker is your husband,
    the Lord of hosts is his name;
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
    the God of the whole earth he is called.
6Â For the Lord has called you
    like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
like the wife of a manâs youth when she is cast off,
    says your God.
7Â For a brief moment I abandoned you,
    but with great compassion I will gather you.
8Â In overflowing wrath for a moment
    I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,
    says the Lord, your Redeemer.
9Â This is like the days of Noah to me:
    Just as I swore that the waters of Noah
    would never again go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
    and will not rebuke you.
10Â For the mountains may depart
    and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
    and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,
    says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
(Isaiah 54:1-10)
This brings us to St. Paul:
I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2Â I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
(2 Corinthians 11:1-2)
Finally we have the Apocalypse of St. John (Book of Revelation):
7Â Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
    and his bride has made herself ready;
8Â to her it has been granted to be clothed
    with fine linen, bright and pureââ
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
(Revelations 19:7-8)
Reading through these passages, I was struck by how the Bride of the Lord would need to be “purified” first. God will not take us as we are, in our sinful ways. We need to be cleansed of our wickedness first. If anything, it seems like this process is an ongoing one. The faithful, the espoused of the Lord, are cleansed continuously. Yet every so often there is a more stringent purification, a purging, if you well, that strikes once things get especially bad, as it has throughout history. And this process is not a gentle one. My suspicion, based on what is going on within the Church now, is that we are due for this process once again.
