Jesus Manifested His Glory at
Cana
Introduction: We are symbolic creatures. Humans
can make signs (including language, both spoken and written) to
represent and symbolize reality. We have written languages developed from
pictographic symbols (e.g. Egyptian hieroglyphics) to syllabic symbols to
letters representing sounds. We constantly use signs and symbols, such as logos,
to remind us of companies.
Humans have not
always been able to grasp what GOD has intended to communicate to us. So the
Lord Jesus used parables and symbolic language to get the meaning across to us.
We can also be symbols of the characteristics of GOD when we relate to others.
People can come to understand how loving, compassionate, caring GOD is, by the
way we sign forth those qualities in our dealing with others.
Today is a day
of joining together. Today we see a link between the Christmas/Epiphany season
and that of Ordinary Time. We also hear about Jesus’ blessing the union of a
man and woman by performing His first public “sign” (Greek: mysterion;
Latin: sacramentum). Today is also a day in which we see the purpose of
the gifts of the Holy Spirit is for the common bonding and Good of the whole of
the body of believers, which should produce new life.
First Reading, Isaiah 62:1-5: The bridegroom rejoices in his bride
Commentary: The marriage relationship is perhaps
the most intimate of the personal relationships we know, designed to become
ever deeper and more absorbing. Even the relationship of mother to child cannot
equal it. So in the Bible, the relationship of the Lord to his people is
described in this way. But, like many human marriage relationships, it went
through bad patches. Israel was so determinedly unfaithful to the Lord that
eventually he was compelled to bite the bullet and forsake her to those with
whom she had prostituted herself. This could not be permanent: Israel could not
go on being called ‘Abandoned’ and ‘Forsaken’. The past would be forgotten.
After the return of Israel from exile in Babylon, Isaiah prophesies the final
wedding in terms of the unalloyed joy of a newly wedded couple. So in the
gospels, Jesus uses the figure of the final wedding and the image of
himself as the bridegroom in the joy of the festival. He always gives us
another chance, an unalloyed welcome.
Responsorial Psalm 96:1-3,7-10:
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
The
Responsorial is a hymn of joyous praise of the LORD Who does great things for
the Beloved of GOD. It exudes the same sort of positive, festive emotions
that a couple experiences on their wedding day. There should be great
happiness and rejoicing as GOD is united intimately with the divine beloved
people.
Second Reading, 1 Corinthians
12:4-11: The Spirit distributes gifts to different people just as he chooses
Commentary: At the beginning of each year the
Church gives us six Sundays of readings from Paul’s first letter to the
Corinthians, that troubled community. Corinth was a thriving port town of
southern Greece, with a very heterogeneous community, rich and poor, academics
and dockers. There were no human leaders in the community, and reliance on the
Spirit for guidance in the problems of living as Christians did not always
provide a solution. These three Sundays show Paul trying to help. Yes, the
Spirit is at work in them in many different ways. There are many different
gifts, all necessary for this varied community. The trouble seems to have been
that each person valued their own contribution so much that the gifts of others
seemed insignificant. Paul’s stress on the variety of ways in which the Spirit
works to build up a community gives us the occasion to reflect on the variety
of gifts which the Spirit has poured out on our own Christian community, and on
every individual member of it. I can rejoice in gifts that God has given to
me, but only if simultaneously I think of all the gifts that others have, and
I lack.
Gospel, John 2:1-11: 'My hour
has not come yet' - 'Do whatever he tells you'
Commentary: Year C is the year of Luke’s gospel,
but we start with this reading from John, the symbolic beginning of Jesus’
ministry. It is full of riches. After the first reading from Isaiah, it is
impossible not to see this ‘sign’ (as John calls it) as a sign of that final wedding feast of God and his people. Furthermore, in Jewish thought water
represents the Law: in an arid land water is the sign of life and is
precious – just so the Law of God is precious and gives life. Jesus
transforms this water of the Law into the wine of the New Covenant – and
in such generous quantities, over one hundred gallons of wine! Then there is
Mary’s part: Jesus says his Hour has not yet come (and the reader knows that
the Hour of Jesus will be the moment of his exaltation at the Cross and
Resurrection), but Mary’s confident plea is a reminder to us of the power of
her intercession. She will be mentioned no more in this gospel till she is
present at the Cross, sharing the passion of her Son and joining the Beloved
Disciple to form the first Christian community.
Reflection: Do you recognize the glory and
presence of the Lord Jesus in your life? God often reveals his glory to us in
the unlikeliest of places - in a cold stable at Bethlehem, at a village wedding
party in Cana, on a bloody cross at Golgatha, or on the road to Emmaus. In
today's Gospel reading, we see the first public sign and miracle that Jesus
performed. The Lord Jesus brought great blessing and joy to a newlywed couple
and their wedding party. First by his presence, and second by saving them from
embarrassment when the wine ran out. Changing water into wine was a remarkable
act of kindness, but giving the best to last was unnecessary and unheard of. In
the Old Testament wine is seen as both a gift and blessing of God (Deuteronomy
7:13; Proverbs 3:10, Psalm 105:). That Jesus would miraculously produce 120
gallons of the best wine (many times more than needed) shows the superabundance
of the blessings that he came to offer.
This miracle
signifies the "new rich wine" of the Gospel, and it points to the
"wine of the new covenant" and the "bread of life" that
Jesus provides for his disciples in the Lord's Supper or Eucharist. It also
points to the Messianic banquet which Jesus will provide at the end of the age
when he comes again in his glory. The miracles of Jesus demonstrate the power
of God's love and mercy for his people. God's kindness knows no limits. And the
ultimate expression of his love is revealed in the person of his Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ. He became flesh for our sake, and he died for our redemption, and
he rose that we, too, might be raised up and glorified with him. Do you thirst
for God and for the abundant life and blessings he offers to you?
Heavenly
Father, you have revealed your glory in our Lord Jesus Christ. Fill me with
your Holy Spirit that I may bring you glory in all that I do and say.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The touch of the Lord, by Ephrem the Syrian (306-373
AD)
"Why did
our Lord change nature at the beginning of his signs, if it was not to show
that the divinity that changed nature in the interior of the jars was the same
that changed nature in the womb of the virgin? At the conclusion of the
signs, he opened the tomb to show that the insatiable nature of death would not
keep hold of him; he confirmed and ratified these two uncertainties of his
birth and of his death. As to their nature, these waters were turned into the
[fruit of] the vine; their stone vessels were not changed within their own
nature. They were a symbol of his body, which was wonderfully conceived in a
woman, and in a marvelous way by [the intervention of] no man within the
virgin. He thus made wine out of water to teach about the manner of his
conception and birth. He called upon the six jars as witness to the one virgin
who gave birth to him; for the jars conceived in a unique way that was not
customary for them, and they brought forth wine, and then they did not continue
to produce [it]. Thus did the virgin conceive and give birth to Immanuel, and
then she ceased and did not continue [to give birth]. The offspring of the jars
was from smallness to grandeur, and from vileness to excellence, for from water
came good wine. In this case [the birth from the virgin], however, it was from
grandeur to weakness and from glory to contempt. Yet in the case of these jars,
they were for the purification of the Jews, and our Lord poured his instruction
into them, to teach that he came in the way [found in] the Law and the
Prophets, and he transformed everything by his teaching, just as wine [was
made] from water." (excerpt from Commentary on Tatian's DIATESSARON 5.6-7)
On empty? “The wine ran out, and Jesus’ mother
told Him, ‘They have no more wine.’ ” —John 2:3
In John’s
Gospel, Jesus began His public ministry at a wedding feast where they had “no
more wine.” Likewise, many people begin to let Jesus work in their lives when
they realize they are out of wine, love, strength, energy, ideas, or hope. In
the weakness of our emptiness, God’s power in us can reach perfection (2 Cor
12:9).
It is literally
true that without Jesus we can do nothing (Jn 15:5). Of ourselves, we are
always on “empty” in the important things in life. Life is an impossible
situation. This gradually or at least eventually becomes obvious. We are doomed
to despair. Who can save us? (see Rm 7:24)
Jesus alone is
our Savior. “There is no salvation in anyone else, for there is no other name
in the whole world given to men by which we are to be saved” (Acts 4:12). So
the most important thing in life is to give our lives and our emptiness totally
to Jesus. We must take Mary’s advice and do whatever Jesus tells us (Jn 2:5).
Jesus is our only Hope.
We live in hope
in His lordship over our lives. We express this hope through our obedience to
Him. He will take us from our emptiness to the fullness of the wedding feast of
heaven (see Rv 19:7). Thank You, Jesus!
Prayer: Father, I
rejoice that “absolute fullness” resides in Jesus (Col 1:19). “For Zion’s sake
I will not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet until her
vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch.”
—Is 62:1. Praise You, Jesus, the Resurrection, and the Life! (Jn 11:25) I
rejoice in You forever!
The personal question for today: How do I manifest (show forth, “epiphany”) the unity
that GOD wants to have with the Beloved People of GOD? What gifts (charismata)
has GOD given me to edify the community of believers? How have I used those
gifts to build up (edify) the community?
*Saint Fabian: Fabian
was a Roman layman who came into the city from his farm one day as clergy and
people were preparing to elect a new pope. Eusebius, a Church historian, says a
dove flew in and settled on the head of Fabian. This sign united the votes of
clergy and laity, and he was chosen unanimously.
He led the
Church for 14 years and died a martyr’s death during the persecution of Decius
in 250 A.D. Saint Cyprian wrote to his successor that Fabian was an
“incomparable” man whose glory in death matched the holiness and purity of his
life.
In the
catacombs of Saint Callistus, the stone that covered Fabian’s grave may still
be seen, broken into four pieces, bearing the Greek words, “Fabian, bishop,
martyr.” St. Fabian shares the celebration of his liturgical feast with St.
Sebastian on January 20.
We can go
confidently into the future and accept the change that growth demands only if
we have firm roots in the past, in a living tradition. A few pieces of stone in
Rome remind us that we bear more than 20 centuries of a
living tradition of faith and courage in living the life of Christ and showing
it to the world. We have brothers and sisters who have “gone before us with the
sign of faith,” as the First Eucharistic Prayer puts it, to light the way for
us.
