The Dirty Vagabond reflection

By Luke Lancaster

Sometimes we need a good reminder of our marriage to Christ, so here's a short reflection on that. In Ephesians 5, St. Paul gives a unbelievable image of Christ and His Bride, the Church. Eph. 5:25-32 says that we are like a Bride who is tarnished and dirty. Christ decides He wants to make His Bride beautiful, so He dies for her out of love (Eph. 5:25). This action sanctifies His Bride as she is cleaned with the washing waters of baptism (Eph. 5:26-27). The Bride and Christ become one flesh (Eph. 5:31).

This is similar to a dirty vagabond-woman who comes from a bad family. She has loads of debt, a really bad credit score, and an old and beaten up car. But a certain man named Bill Gates, Jr. loves her. This man takes on her bad family, takes on her debt, and everything else, causing his own credit score to drop - all for the sake of this woman. The woman now has a good family, less debt, a better credit score, and a nicer car. She' s got money to put on make-up, go to the salon, and get her nails done.

This is us. We are the dirty vagabond. Christ took a loss just to marry the woman He loved - you and I. He gave up His own life to make you and I pretty. What a guy we have.