Do whatever he tells you

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Second Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB

On this Second Sunday in Ordinary time, we hear in the gospel about the Wedding Feast at Cana. This couple must have been really special people to have such important guests as our Lord, our Lady, and the Lord’s Disciples present.

As the gospel unfolds, the dialogue between our Lady and the Lord catches my interest. Mary tells Jesus about the shortage of wine. Jesus responds in, what I consider, a harsh way: “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4) Our Lady doesn’t let that tone stop her and tells the waiters, “Do whatever he tells you.” Jesus, being obedient to his mother, performs his first miracle. Jesus saves the day, and the couple not only has wine: they have probably the best wine ever!

There’s a couple of things to meditate on in this reading. First, we see our Lord being obedient to his loving mother. Her concern becomes his concern. The couple turns to her with their problem, and she in turn turns to Jesus to help solve the problem. We can learn from this as well. When we have our own problems, we can take them to Mary, who will in turn take them to Jesus to respond in a way that’s best for us.

The second part of my reflection is what our Lady says to the waiters: “Do whatever he tells you.” This instruction to the waiters is something that we, too, can learn from. Mary is telling each of us in our day-to-day living out of our faith in Jesus Christ: “Do whatever he tells you.” We do what Jesus tells us by following the commandments of God as understood by the Catholic Church. The commandments are very simple. As Jesus points out in scripture: we are to love God with our whole mind, heart and soul, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Further, we are to follow the precepts and teachings of His Holy Catholic Church by regular attendance at mass and the frequent use of confession.

In doing so, we are doing what the Lord is telling us, and we are growing ever closer to Him and to his mother.