Second
Sunday of Ordinary Time (C) [Jn 2:1-11]
16.01.2022
The
Wedding at
1. Theme in brief
Transforming our emptiness
into fullness of joy
2.
Focus Statement
Jesus has the power to change our
water-like deficiencies or emptiness into abundance of wine-like joy only when
we do whatever he tells us to do in the gospel.
3. Explanation of
the text
Today’s gospel text tells us that
it was during a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee that Jesus performed “first of
his signs” and “revealed his glory” for the first time;
and his disciples’ faith in him as the Messiah was
confirmed (2:11). For John, all miracles of Jesus are “signs.” Hence, this
particular miracle of changing water into wine at
Wine was essential in a Jewish
wedding. In the OT it is considered as a symbol of joy. Take for instance,
what the Psalmist says: The Lord brings forth food from the earth and “wine to gladden the human heart” (Ps104:15). In Jewish society, hospitality
towards the guests was considered a sacred duty. Hence, when the supply of wine
ran out in a wedding at Cana in
The Mother of Jesus (John’s gospel
never calls Mary by her proper name), who was present there (2:1), noticed the embarrassing situation because of her sensitivity/ concern/ care for a
troubled family. She reported the matter to her Son hoping that he might do
something about it (2:3). Jesus responded to her with the words: “Woman, what concern
is that to you and to me?” (2:4). Apparently, these words imply a reluctance to
intervene or a don’t-care-attitude. But in fact they weren’t. Why Jesus replied
in that manner was because his “hour” had not yet come (2:4). In
John’s gospel “the hour” of Jesus is the time willed by God – for his glorification through his death and resurrection. Though his hour had not come,
he performed this miracle because he must have thought it was the best moment
to reveal his messianic glory and confirm the faith of his disciples. Or, Jesus
must have meant that he would deal with that problem in his own way and she
should not be worried about it. The very fact that Mary told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do (2:5), shows that she had total trust
in him. She was confident that ultimately her Son would not
refuse her request.
In this context, John
reports that Jesus addressed his own mother as “woman,” (2:4) because he wanted to point to the role of Mary beyond blood-relationship. He wanted to project
Mary as the New Eve in
contrast to the old or first Eve mentioned in the creation story of Genesis. In
it, Eve is called “the mother of all living beings” (Gen 3:20). By reporting
this type of address, probably John wanted to portray Mary as the New Eve who was
the Mother of all believers in Christ. The first woman (Eve) had co-operated
with the serpent (devil) to bring sin into the world; now another woman (New
Eve, i.e. the Mother of Jesus) closely cooperated with Jesus to redeem humankind from sin. Here Mary is shown to be a
close collaborator in the redemptive work of Christ.
The six stone water-jars standing there (2:6) were meant for two
purposes:
(1) cleaning the feet from dust, and (2) ceremonial washing of the hands at
various parts of a meal as per Jewish regulations. When Jesus commanded the
servants to fill the jars, John mentions that they “filled them up to the brim”
(2:7), to indicate that Jesus had come to bring the abundance or overflowing quantity of
God’s grace
to all believers. Since number seven is the perfect number according to Jewish
beliefs, six water-jars instead of the holy number seven, point to the imperfection
of Jewish law which is replaced by the perfection of the gospel of his grace. In other words,
Jesus had come to replace the limitations of the Jewish law with the superabundance
of his grace available to those who “believe” in him (that is, put their faith and
trust in him). It was a sign pointing to something beyond itself: With the
arrival of the Messiah, the water used for Jewish ceremonial washing was
replaced by the wine of the best quality and abundant (overflowing) quantity.
The quality of that new wine was so superior that the compliments given by the steward
(2:10) must have made the bridegroom’s family proud.
4.
Application to life
Today’s
gospel speaks about the miraculous transformation
of plain water into abundance of superior
quality of wine done by Jesus at a wedding in
In the light of today’s
gospel-message, it is good to examine whether this kind of situation is true of
us. How many marriages and religious professions which began with “joyful wine”
(that is, with a lot of enthusiasm and expectations) have become like empty
jars of Cana and the plain “water” poured into them without any taste or joy!
These empty pots of Cana as well as plain water could symbolize one or more of
the following things: our deficiencies,
defects of character, weaknesses, self-centredness, jealousies, disunity, dreariness
(dullness) of daily routine, monotony
of daily work, superficiality of
faith, failure to sacrifice our self-interests to render pro-active service, shallowness
of human relationships, etc. We observe that so many families and religious communities
have no wine left; that is, there is no genuine love
and understanding left. Today it is
not wine but love, peace and harmony that come to an end when we live a life of
self-centredness and individualism.
And it is Jesus who can transform this situation, if we turn to him in faith
and begin to live the Gospel more radically. We have to allow Christ to change
what is water-like situation into joyful ‘wine.’
We are either like either empty water-pots or like plain water poured into them. As in
Another
reason why the “wine of joy” runs out in our families is our tendency to take
so many expressions of love of our family members for
granted. Sometimes we are more courteous, warm, polite and helpful
to outsiders than to their own family members. One of the reasons for this is
that we take the love of our near and dear ones for granted because their love
is guaranteed. It is said the “familiarity breeds contempt.” We can observe
this even among many children who behave very calm and obedient in schools but
turn out to be rebellious at home, especially towards their mothers. They have
a guarantee of their parents’ love and know that they would be loved even if
they rebel against their authority.
They take advantage of natural attraction of parents towards their children
without thinking for a while how much heartache it
might create for parents. This makes the children think how they can enhance
the joy of their parents in return to the sacrifice they make for them.
Today’s gospel tells us, being a
Mother, as at Cana, so also now, Mary is very sensitive
to all situations of emptiness, shallowness and deficiencies in our families
and personal lives. Just as she did at
Since this miracle is
called a “sign” (2:11) in John’s gospel, a sign that points to something else a
literal understanding of it is pointless. Its symbolic meaning is rich: When
Jesus comes into our life, it is like water changing into wine. Any change that takes place under the influence of
faith in Christ, or by doing what he says in the gospel, is like water turning
into wine. The Lord replaced
emptiness of water-jars with fullness
of joy, or replaced disappointment
and embarrassment with fullness of joy and grace. Today we have to regret that
we have drifted away from Christ and
his teachings, and have allowed selfish and secular
values to reign in our homes, due to which we experience lack of peace and joy
in our families.
How can we experience
Jesus’ ‘glory’ (that is, his presence) if there is no genuine love in our
families? Just as Mary’s sensitivity
to the needs of others or her care for them became an occasion for Jesus to
reveal his glory, our sensitivity to others’ needs in our families and
neighbourhood can reveal to them God’s presence
in us. When we totally neglect to do what Jesus tells us in the gospel,
especially when we fail to live his commandment of love, service, sacrifice,
active concern, care and forgiveness, our water never becomes wine and our
empty water-pots never get filled with joy.
The overflowing quantity of wine symbolizes an
overflow of God’s grace through Christ. Jesus brings us the superabundance of God’s grace and salvific
gifts. God in Christ continues to pour out the abundance of his love and life
out of his generosity. We need to admit our emptiness and approach him in faith.
The miracle happened only when the servants obeyed Jesus’ command and cooperated with him. Many more miracles will
happen when we cooperate with God’s grace. The world’s joy (merriment) runs out,
but the joy (inner peace) he gives will overflow
like the overflowing quantity of wine and its far superior quality. Let us
invite Jesus to our homes today like the host at
5.
Response to God's Word
Are we more courteous, warm, polite
and helpful to outsiders than to our own family members? Is there genuine love,
concern, understanding, depth-level communication in our families/ religious
communities? What are the empty water-pots of our deficiencies and defects of
character? Have we drifted away from Christ and his teachings, and have allowed
selfish and secular values to rule in our homes? Do we co-operate with his
grace for our inner transformation?
6.
A prayer
Jesus,
our Divine Guest, today once again we invite you into our homes. Look kindly on
our emptiness and water-like situation and transform it into joy with your
power. As the Divine Host, feed us with the Sacred Bread and Wine to gladden
our hearts with your divine presence. Amen.
Very good.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot