2d Sunday of Ordinary Time
January 19, 1986
John 2:
1-12
Assumption,
San Leandro, Calif.
Our community's opportunities to celebrate and preach at a parish (or convent) Mass have been pretty sparse lately. So, once again, I post an almost ancient homily. We're hoping there may be more openings when we move at the end of this week to our new residence in College Park and will be closer to other parishes.
“There was a wedding at Cana in
Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there” (John 2: 1).
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| The Wedding at Cana (Gerard David, ca. 1500) |
Here’s a beautiful gospel, one with
many facets to it. We’ll look at just two: the wedding and the mother of Jesus.
The Church has traditionally seen this
gospel as part of the Epiphany cycle:
Jesus manifests himself to his disciples and begins his public
ministry. Let’s consider a slightly different
manifestation this morning, completing our Christmas cycle, as it were.
You’ve all been to weddings—and I hope
you’ve never run out of wine or other spiritual liquids. Mary and Jesus are celebrating a wedding,
probably a relative’s. When we remember
that Palestinian weddings frequently lasted a week, we can appreciate not only
what a festival it was but how much wine they all must have drunk before it ran
out. Isn’t it wonderful that the
incarnate Son of God, the Word made flesh, is there! A wedding is such a beautiful, ordinary but
marvelous part of human life—and Jesus is there with his mother. Anything that’s fundamentally human like
marriage is noble, and Jesus graces it with his presence. Not only that, but I imagine he and his rough
fisherman and farmer friends had a good time—probably did their share to help
the wine disappear!
It’s yet more significant that Jesus
does his 1st sign or miracle at a wedding, 1st reveals his divine glory to the
public eye in the privileged context of family life. His action specially blesses married love in
all its goodness, shows his eagerness to help with the problems of married
life, and reminds us of marriage’s sacramentality: it is an image of God’s eternal love for his
people. “As a young man marries a
virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his
bride, so shall your God rejoice in you” (Is 62:5).
A parenthesis is timely here: It’s because God’s love for his people is
eternal and marriage is a sacrament or sign of that love, that marriage is a
till-death-do-us-part covenant and the Church can never recognize divorce. Close parenthesis.
Our parish here is called
Assumption. So our Lady, the mother of
Jesus, has special meaning for us. She’s
at the wedding, she brings the wine problem to Jesus’ attention, she sends the
waiters to Jesus, she fades into the background.
In this scripture and in the related
crucifixion scene, John presents Mary as an image of the Church as well as a
disciple of Jesus. Like Mary, the Church
shares “the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this
age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted,” as Vatican II said
(GS 1). Like Mary, the Church always
points to Jesus, saying, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). Like Mary, the Church doesn’t always get
clear answers, but she has faith in his concern, is ready for whatever he
suggests or wherever he leads even if she’s unsure what that will be. Like Mary, the Church seeks not herself but
Jesus, keeps pointing to him for the salvation of others and the glorification
of God in Jesus.
Mary’s personal role and Jesus’ dialog
with her in the Cana story are a bit puzzling.
It’s enough to say that she notices a serious problem for her relatives
or friends, and in some manner she brings this problem to Jesus and Jesus
acts. When we add the crucifixion scene
of John 19, we see Mary as our mother, attentive also to our needs and bringing
them to Jesus for us. We can’t doubt
that he’ll act for us, too.
May the mother of Jesus, our mother,
watch over us and pray for us.
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