The Wedding Feast at Cana

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. Gospel Reading: John 2, 1-12. “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him”.

[Please visit H2Onews audiovisual news service - Gospel for Sunday, 17 January 2010] The way John describes the marriage feast at Cana makes it sound as though Mary, the mother of Jesus, was one of the most important wedding guests, but that Jesus’ and his disciples’ presence was somewhat secondary . “There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there,“ and, almost as an afterthought, “Jesus and his disciples had also been invited”.  At any rate, she had enough inside knowledge to realize that the celebration, already well on, was about to turn into a fiasco, with disgruntled guests and embarrassment for the bridegroom’s family.

Was her remark to Jesus, “They have no wine”, merely a warning that things were about to go badly wrong? Or did she know from previous experience that he could rescue the situation if he had a mind to? You can almost imagine Jesus’ sideways glance at his mother and “What are you looking at me like that for? The time hasn’t come yet”!

But it had come! That humorous little exchange, that loving glance between two people who knew and loved each other so well, set the ball rolling for the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Did Jesus and his mother try to persuade the stewards to keep the secret?

But somebody talked!

“Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him”.

From that moment, Jesus was set firmly on the road to Calvary - and to the Resurrection, the foundation of our faith. Only a few minutes earlier, he had said that his time had not yet come, yet just at that moment he perhaps received the flash of knowledge that it indeed had come. He surrendered himself totally, knowing that this moment would lead to the glorification of his Father.

Mary trusted him; the stewards obeyed him; the disciples believed in him - and no doubt the guests rejoiced in him - and, for the first time, his glory was revealed. If we wish also to see him in his glory, we must do as they did: trust, obey, believe and rejoice in him! It sounds so simple, but we need the whole of our lives to strive towards the fulfilment of his promise.

The text actually says, “he revealed his glory”, or “he let his glory be seen” - he himself chose thus to let it be understood that his will was in complete conformity with that of his Father.

Not only his, but our time has come - to set out on the road to complete union with Jesus in doing his Father’s will.

 

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. Gospel Reading: John 2, 1-12.

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Sr. Elaine OSC

Høysteinane Kloster, Larvik.