2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time
Cycle C
January 16, 2022 11am
Bon Secours Retreat and Conference Center, Marriottsville
John’s Gospel
This morning, I want to do a kind of “Bible-study” approach to my homily.
There are many details in this familiar story of the wedding feast of Cana, and at least some of them are enriching in what they tell us about Jesus and our relationship with him. So, let’s get started.
The Wedding: The Problem
To begin with, Mary says to Jesus, “`They have no wine.’” Jesus’ mother could simply be concerned about the embarrassment of the newly married couple in running out of wine.
But on another, deeper level, “`They have no wine’” also means that they – and all of humanity – have no way to God. Their relationship with God has run out and run dry.
Then, Jesus seems to respond to his mother rather disrespectfully: “`Woman, how does your concern affect me?’” In other words: “So, what do you want me to do about it?”
And, on top of that, Jesus addresses his mother as “’Woman’” – definitely not the usual way in that culture to speak to your mother. But, as you might guess, there is some significance here.
Jesus uses this same word when he is dying on the cross and entrusts his mother to the disciple John and entrusts John to his mother. So, in using this word, Jesus is transforming the relationship between his mother and himself.
He is adding an additional level of relationship with his mother – that of disciple. He is seeing his mother as a disciple who will join him in doing God’s saving work on this earth.
Then, Jesus goes on to say, “`My hour has not yet come.’” Maybe Jesus just wants to enjoy himself and not be bothered with anyone’s problems.
But, Jesus’ words “`My hour’” are very significant: they are consistently used in the gospel, and they specifically refer to the time of his suffering and death. So, apparently, Jesus knows, here at Cana, that as soon as he starts his divine mission, opposition and hardship will also start.
The Wedding: The Solution
So, Jesus seems to dodge his mother’s request, but Mary is undeterred and says to the waiters: “`Do whatever he tells you.’” In one way, I can imagine Mary rolling her eyes, shaking her head, and taking a deep breath.
But maybe the bigger point here is that Mary already shows herself as a disciple. She already trusts in Jesus, her son.
And in her trust and faith, she – a good disciple – calls us to be disciples: “”Do whatever he tells you.’” And if we do, we too will experience the action of God in our lives.
Then John’s gospel carefully notes that there are 6 water jars. To his audience, this means 1 less than the perfect number, which is 7, a sign of fulfillment or perfection.
The idea here is that Jesus himself will become the 7th jar, the fulfillment or perfection of humanity’s relationship with God. And he will become this when he gives us not a water jar but a chalice of wine as his blood.
And then, there is the great statement of the headwaiter. “`Everyone serves good wine first, but you have kept the good wine until now.’”
On one level, the headwaiter voices the common sense practice of not holding the good wine until people are a bit high, and then they won’t appreciate it. On another level, these words also say that in Jesus, the best, has been saved until this moment.
Conclusion: Signs
Finally, John concludes this story by saying that “Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs.”
So, Jesus’ actions are signs – signs of God’s presence and action in our lives. We Christians are a people of signs.
We have the signs of the sacraments. The question is: do we bring to these signs the trust or faith that the first disciples bring?
For example, do we bring this trust or faith when we say “Amen” to the words “The Body of Christ” before we receive the Eucharist? If we do, then we too will be able to experience Jesus doing great things in our lives.
