Tag: Cana

“You have kept the good wine until now.” | Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all you lands. Sing to the LORD; bless his name. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (John 2:1-11)

And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from—although the servers who had drawn the water knew —, the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.”

John relates the account of the wedding at Cana, where Jesus performs his first miracle in his public ministry by turning water into wine. The transformation of water into wine immediately reveals the divine nature and authority of Jesus as the Son of God. In the midst of the wedding feast, wine running out would quickly bring the celebration to an end and the guests to a state of desolation. Jesus not only changes water into inferior wine but instead makes it the choicest wine, symbolizing the surpassing joy God takes in his people, as we hear in Isaiah: “No more shall people call you ‘Forsaken,’ or your land ‘Desolate,’ but you shall be called ‘My Delight,’ and your land ‘Espoused.'” In comprehending what the first of Jesus’ miraculous signs means for us in the midst of the day, what Mary says to the servants, she also says to us: “Do whatever he tells you.”

God, you are in my midst today, continually pouring out your gifts through the sacraments and in the people you place before me. Help me see your superabundant grace in the different spiritual gifts given by the same Spirit. Through Jesus Christ your Son at the Wedding of Cana, you delighted in your people and rejoiced as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride. In perfectly accomplishing your will, Jesus is truly present every day at every Mass as bread and wine is changed into the Body and Blood of your Son. Help me be attentive to his will; in hearing him, help me follow Mary’s example of obedience to your Son and to the Son of Mary: “Do whatever he tells you.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Christmas Readings: January 7

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”

The familiar story of the Wedding at Cana presents what would be a crucial moment during the feast: the wine has run out. Without wine, how can the feast continue? Among the few words the Evangelists share, Mary says: “They have no wine.” She sees and understands that the feasting would end without it. Jesus says in so many words to Mary, “What has your concern got to do with me? It’s not time yet for me to go out into the world.” It is telling to see that Mary does not reply to Jesus’ question; she says instead to the servers, leaving the Son of God to act on his own will, “Do whatever he tells you.” Two elements of Mary’s nature begin at this moment to shine: her selfless intercession (“They have no wine.”) and her perfect trust in God’s will: “Do whatever he tells you.” Wine, which becomes the blood of Christ at the Last Supper, here initiates the feast in the coming of Emmanuel. The passing earthly banquet foreshadows the joy of God made man who comes to draw all into the great feast of endless length of days.

God, help me understand the beauty in this Gospel passage and allow its beauty to draw me toward Mary as a model of faith and to adopt her selflessness and abandonment to your will. Why does Jesus question Mary’s concern? The Mother of God becomes the Queen of Heaven, the ever-present intercessor of every spiritual need, who entrusts the prayers of the human family directly to her Son. Is Jesus asking her that question, not out of a kind of irony, but only to allow her to give witness to her faith in her response? “Do whatever he tells you.”

In your presence, Lord, my eyes see only so much. There is infinitely more! Give me the grace today to see your love manifested in the day’s unfolding. Be with me as I come to knowledge of your will through the material gifts that surround me. You supply me with every spiritual need; strengthen me to do whatever you tell me.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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