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.
From Arlene B. Muller
ReplyDeleteMy parents frequently watched & participated in televised Masses on NET TV (the Prayer Channel for our diocese of Brooklyn/Queens), EWTN, televised Masses from St. Patrick's Cathedral, televised Masses from the Diocese of Rockville Centre, & other Catholic spiritual programs on these channels. My Mom also subscribed to THE WORD AMONG US & did other spiritual reading from Catholic sources.
I loved when my Mom would share with me some of the insights from homilies & teachings she read or heard. I can go back in memory & almost see her & hear her voice.
I don't remember who the person (most likely a priest) was who provided this spiritual insight that Mom shared with me, but it provided an interesting & reasonable perspective on what could very likely can explain why Our LORD JESUS initially responded to His Blessed Mother the way He did when she told Him, "They have no more wine."
Our LORD had recently selected His disciples & was just beginning His public ministry but had not yet performed any miracles & had not yet received any public recognition. I suppose at that time He was just known as the son of Mary (now widowed) & Joseph & as an aspiring rabbi & a carpenter. Most likely the bride and/or
groom were relatives or neighborhood friends. Perhaps Our LORD had not even completely left home yet!
Our LORD knew that if He proceeded to perform a miracle He would be launched into the public ministry & begin to set in motion His public life of preaching, teaching, healing & miracles that would ultimately result in the events leading us to His Passion, crucifixion, death & Resurrection. Most likely over time He had spoken with His Blessed Mother about His mission & how it would be fulfilled. So in a sense He was telling His Mother that if He follows through with her request, this would mean that His time had indeed come & that their lives would never be the same.
I remember my Mom telling me that by His response Our LORD was telling her "You know what will happen if I do this!" & in a sense He was asking for her consent & permission to launch into His public mission. By proceeding to tell the people responsible for the details of the wedding "Do whatever He tells you" Our Lady was giving her consent & permission to her Divine Son, another expression of her "fiat".
This explanation seems to make sense out of what would otherwise appear to be a harsh or even rude response of Our LORD to His Blessed Mother.