[Salvation]

 

His signs . . . revealed his glory

The Sunday Word: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/012013.cfm

Is 62: 1-51

Cor 12: 4-11
Jn 2: 1-11

Wedding celebrations are among the most festive and joyful.  Across cultural lines, we begin with the commitment of the bride and groom, hopefully in a context of religious faith, only to be followed by a grand party that may last anywhere from a few hours to a few days.  I think it clear from the Gospel today that we find ourselves in the midst of a lengthy celebration.

Were these relatives of Jesus?  Likely they were perhaps on Mary’s side of the family.  And of course the potential for embarrassment on the part of the groom and bride that the wine has run out was very real. Imagine the scene.  Surrounded by music and joyful laughter, some of which was undoubtedly brought on by the wine (were the disciples of Jesus among the mildly intoxicated?) a problem is identified and an unexpected person, Mary, says to Jesus: “They have no more wine.”

Yes, the Immaculate Conception, the virgin Mother of God, is concerned about the wine! How beautifully human this beloved story is presented. Why would Mary make such a remark to Jesus? Obviously, she felt he could do something about it but was a miracle in Mary’s mind? 

Jesus’ response to Mary’s statement has always been a point of debate: “Woman, how does your concern affect me?  My hour has not yet come.” Scripture scholars have literally translated this line as: “What to me and to you, woman?” We might say Jesus is asking his mother – “How does this involve the both of us?”

Mary’s order to the servers is a simple, “Do whatever he tells you.”  She leaves it up to Jesus to carry this concern forward and from that point he does take charge of the situation. The water he ordered placed in the jars (180 gallons) all becomes the finest vintage of wine. Let the party continue!  

We would love to see the look of surprise on Jesus’ face as Mary addressed the concern of the bridal couple.  Socially, running out of wine would have been a disaster.  The head water was responsible to see that things went well.  He was in affect a Master of Ceremonies; likely a family member whose very reputation was on the line.

It’s clear, however, that Jesus was influenced by his Mother’s observation. John may be showing us the influence of Mary as the public ministry of Jesus began: “All right, son, now it’s time to get on with this.  Here’s your first chance.” Hmm, how delightfully Jewish!

It was time and with this first of Jesus’ miracles (signs) our Lord comes on the scene – all because they did whatever he told them. So too with Jesus himself – he followed the concern of his own mother and carried through her wishes. Her role in the beginning of Jesus’ ministry was both cultural and symbolic.

Yet, this Gospel scene is undoubtedly not so much about a festive wedding as it is about the self-giving ministry of Christ.  It is the “wedding” of two testaments – one now fulfilled in the transformation of the wine from the vineyard, which is the Biblical image of Israel.

Jesus will come and with his presence only the finest will be made.  The Prophet Isaiah writes this Sunday (Is 62: 1-5): “No more shall people call you ‘Forsaken” or your land ‘Desolate,’ but you shall be called ‘My Delight,’ and your land ‘Espoused. . .’

God will marry his people to himself as a groom marries a bride.  These nuptial images imply an intimacy of the deepest love and faithfulness.  God will transform the plainest substance (water) into the finest vintage (wine).  When Christ steps in, things change.  And so, Jesus begins his earthly ministry around a wedding feast at which wine was given and in which a new and forever covenant is established. However, this was not the only time Jesus changed wine.

The Gospel should remind us that the earthly ministry of Jesus will end as it began - with a feast, a supper of sorts at which wine will be given again as his very life offered for all. A wedding feast to begin and a Last Supper to end.  Both involve relationships, covenant, wine, feasting, celebration, and a gift.

In the giving of his life for us, Jesus makes himself present around a table which will become a cross which will become a tomb which will become for all time a sign of hope, glory and life for all who would come to believe. The feast of the Eucharist is our constant invitation to wed ourselves in an intimate union between we who are water and Christ who is wine.

When we eat this bread,
And drink this Cup,
We proclaim your Death, O Lord,
Until you come again.

Fr. Tim

[Salvation]

Insight Scoop

Cana, Signs, and Sacraments

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, January 20, 2013 | Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Is 62:1-5
• Ps 96:1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10
• 1 Cor 12:4-11
• Jn 2:1-11

The Gospel of John contains some seventeen direct references to signs (semeia), which is St. John’s term for the miraculous deeds of Jesus. St. John is especially interested in how these various signs are manifestations of God’s new and transforming intervention in human history through the Word, the Logos. His Gospel is a profound reflection on the fact and mystery that God became man and dwelt among us, “full of grace and truth” (see Jn 1:1-14). 

Chapters 2 through 12 of John’s Gospel are sometimes called collectively “The Book of Signs,” for they contain seven signs, or miracles, performed by Christ. These signs include the healing of the official’s son (Jn 4), the healing of the paralytic (Jn 5), the multiplication of the loaves (Jn 6), walking on water (Jn 6), the restoration of the blind man (Jn 9), and the raising of Lazarus (Jn 11).

The first sign, however, is the miracle at the wedding at Cana, proclaimed in today’s Gospel, which is found only in the Fourth Gospel. The exact location of Cana is unclear, but it was probably just a few miles north of Nazareth. The identity of the bride and groom are unknown, although a later tradition from about the third century states that Mary was the aunt of the bridegroom.

What is known, for it forms the crux of the story, is that something embarrassing had taken place: the wedding party ran out of wine. Mary, ever attentive to the needs of others, intercedes on behalf of the bride and groom, telling her son, “They have no wine.” She prays—that is, entreats—in faith, for the needs of those gathered for the feast. This foreshadows her prayers, as “Mother of all the living” and Mother of the Church, at the foot of the Cross, the saving way to the marriage feast of the Lamb (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2618, 1335, 963).

Jesus’ response is puzzling, perhaps even perplexing: “Woman, how does your concern affect me?” But the term “Woman” is not an insult, as some have argued incorrectly; it is actually a formal title of respect (cf. Matt 15:28). What is unusual is how Jesus, in speaking to his mother, uses the term without any qualifier. It indicates a changed relationship between son and mother (cf. Jn 19:26). Further, in using it, Jesus identifies Mary as the new Eve, whose obedience and faith will be an essential part of the new creation and a new family, the Church.

Jesus stated that his hour—the time of his passion, death, resurrection, and ascension (Jn 13:1)—had not yet arrived. Mary does not question him, or protest. Her words to the servers are words of invitation to all of us: “Do whatever he tells you.” She trusts her son, knowing he will do what is right and necessary. “The Mother of Christ presents herself as the spokeswoman of her Son's will,” observed Blessed John Paul II in Redemptoris Mater, “pointing out those things which must be done so that the salvific power of the Messiah may be manifested. At Cana, thanks to the intercession of Mary and the obedience of the servants, Jesus begins ‘his hour.’” (par 21).

The Church sees the miracle at Cana as a “confirmation of the goodness of marriage” (CCC 1613). But there is also a connection to baptism, for the jars used in the miracle were for ceremonial washings, for ritual purification from defilement. In the waters of baptism, we are cleansed by God’s grace and transformed by his power. Through baptism we become members of the Church, the bride of Christ, and are invited to partake of the blood of the bridegroom (CCC 1335).

“Now we all partake at the banquet in the church,” wrote the sixth-century saint, Romanus Melodus, “For Christ’s blood is changed into wine/And we drink it with holy joy/Praising the great bridegroom.”

First water, then wine; first baptism, then Eucharist. By these sacraments, perceptible signs, we are changed, cleansed, fed—and wed.

(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the January 17, 2010, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)