The baptismal marital union with the divine God is not the sum of all my possessions and talents added to the Divine. Additionally, the baptismal marital union does not join Christ to a quarter of a human that desires testing the partnership for a weekend’s activities. Rather, the baptismal marriage resembles an inseparable blended genetic code with contributions from the father and the mother to create a new child. The creator did not define marriage as two joined together by their words, a contract, a license or agreement. Rather as Adam expressed, “and the two of them become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). When John the Baptist’s disciples asked him about Christ Baptizing the people, John said about Christ, “He who has the bride is the Bridegroom” (John 3:29). Christ used the same marital illustration to explain our union with Him by comparing us to branches on His Grapevine, and obviously that cannot be a supporting wooden post fastened to a grapevine. Christ’s True Body and Blood that we eat in the Eucharist is assimilated in our body and blood so we live inseparably. Worthily receiving Christ’s Flesh is the nourishment of eternal life that becomes abided within our human body as stated in John 6:51, “I am the living Bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this Bread will live forever; and the Bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.”
I cannot add myself to the LORD who is divine. Nothing I can do can add anything or subtract anything from God. John the Baptist explained the Baptism that Christ will gift us by “water and fire.” I cannot combine the water to the fire without the fire eventually heating up the water, breaking the water into its elements of gasses, and eventually consuming all the water. Abiding in Christ in baptismal marriage is as John the Baptist expressed, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Therefore, we who are united in the baptismal marital union cannot possibly bring earthly treasures to add them to the heavenly treasure within us. Since we know not the moment of our death, the sooner we allow Christ to boil our water and break it into its elements of gasses, the sooner Christ would create us in our baptismal marital union to “Be perfect” and “Be Holy.”
We have the choice of the type of bride we allow Christ to create in us. During life, we are on a journey to celebrate our baptismal marital rebirth feast with the Bridegroom. Foolish brides choose to travel the journey carrying their favorite treasures along with the divine lamp gifted to them by Christ. The wise brides would do all they can to trade all their talents, faith, work, and earthly treasures for divine oil to keep their divine lamp lit. Christ taught us the fate of earthly shiny treasures, “moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19). Wise brides busy themselves with storing the invisible divine lamp oil, because lamp oil is one of the “treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:20). Soon, the Heavenly Father would send his angels to invite the wise and the foolish brides to His Son's Banquet as explained, “Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled” (Luke 14:23). Christ is the “Way” to the Father and the heavenly way must be lit by a heavenly lamp. The baptismal fire we receive must remain lit by the heavenly oil of nourishment of the treasure we choose to store. The foolish brides spent their energy and resources carrying earthly treasures, leaving no room for an additional supply of divine oil to keep their heavenly lamp lit. Although the way to the feast is long, the wise brides travels with ease, peace, confidence, and joy while carrying no heavy earthly treasures that impede progress. The wise bride travels with heavenly spiritual invisible oil for the visible light they held, for they understood Christ's saying, “My yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Matthew 11:30). The foolish brides could not be allowed into the awaited heavenly feast, while the wise brides were cheerfully included in the celebration. However, some may somehow manage to enter into the Father's palace and sit at the same Banquet without wearing proper wedding garments. Without proper wedding garments, God would kick the guest outside mercilessly and harshly as stated in Matthew 22:11-13,
But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
The guest without the wedding garments was addressed by “friend,” which implies that during life he was a friend of Christ as Christ explained in Matthew 7:22-23,
Many will say to me on that day, ‘LORD, LORD, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.
One cannot fool the Creator, nor Satan; one can fool only himself. The wedding garment is the baptismal marital union with God. During life we must care for our baptismal marital union with an intimate relationship with our Bridegroom. We must avoid betraying our marital relationship with an outside love relationship with any idolater regardless of the excuses and rationalizations we use. We must remain faithful to our first Bridegroom at every moment. As soon as we blemish our baptismal marital union, we must seek absolution from all those involved, our Creator, and the valid authorized priests who act in the person of Christ. We ought not to neglect feeding our baptismal marital union with heavenly nourishment graced to us by Christ in the holy Eucharist to keep our lamps lit with heavenly oil. While awaiting the King's angels' calling, we are called to help our brothers and sisters to remain vigilant and faithful to their baptismal marital union and garment, just as we ought to do so that we can celebrate as one family in one heavenly feast. I gratefully thank the Father for prolonging the earthly life of our saintly true brothers and sisters for our good, as expressed by Saint Paul in Philippians 1:22-23, “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.”