hen I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” (Rev. 19:6-7)

In Rev. 19:6-7 St. John saw the church, the bride of the Lamb, adorned and made ready to be received by her Lord. As his bride, we are separated from the bridegroom, Jesus. We do not see him. We are waiting for his return. But in the meantime he sends us his love letters. They are His word of forgiveness, our baptism, and his holy supper. Through these means he gives us his love, his forgiveness, and his very presence. He gives us his word he will return to take us to our eternal home. And so, like a wife separated from her loving husband, the Church waits. She waits for his return and longs for the day that she will see him and glory in the eternal wedding feast, heaven.