Monday, April 05, 2010

the wedding feast that is the pascha


one of the many haunting texts of the great three days through which we have just passed (over which we have just passed?) is the question that mary the mother of jesus asks her son as he stumbles with his cross towards golgatha. unfortunately, i did not bring my prayer book with me to the library, so i'll have to paraphrase:

where dost thou hasten, o my son? is there another wedding in cana where once more thou wilt turn water to wine? should i accompany thee, o my son? though thou art crucified, still thou art my son.

oddly one of the other texts which seems to embrace some of the richness of the wedding feast is, i think, a song from 1993 by kate bush called appropriately "the song of solomon." it makes very clear in a way that christians sometimes find uncomfortable the demands of the risen lord, of whom the church is the bride. if indeed, he can demand our sexuality, what else might he demand?