Gospel Reflection 20070114
Learn to pray.Life isn't easy. For one thing, the daily struggle between good and evil is real. To help us cope, Jesus taught us a brief prayer. The Lord's Prayer assumes that temptation is part of life and that dependence on God is the remedy. We ask God to "forgive our trespasses," "lead us not into temptation" and "deliver us from evil." In struggling, we are never alone.Aspire to be perfect.Jesus ups the ante, We must love not only our neighbor, but also our enemy! Such perfection may seem unattainable, but it is reached the same way as any lesser goal. Proceed one step at a time.
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January 14, 2007
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
John 2:1-11On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." (And) Jesus said to her, "Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servers, "Do whatever he tells you." Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now." Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.
In Cana of Galilee Jesus worked the first of His signs and throughout his public ministry He would continue to work and perform miracles. For the most part what He did was either ignored or rejected.
In the Gospel Reading, Saint John tells us about what occurred at the wedding feast in Cana in Galilee. The Virgin Mary and her son, Jesus, were invited to this celebration. The wine ran out and there were many people at the banquet. The newly wed couple needed help. Mary, a sensitive and intuitive woman, saw the problem, understood the need, and spoke to her son, saying, “They have no more wine.” Obviously, Jesus was surprised to hear these simple words from his mother. That is why he said, “Woman, how does this concern of yours involve me? My hour has not yet come.” But the Virgin Mary knew that her son would not stand by idly when someone was in need so she told those waiting at the table, “Do whatever he tells you.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that by his presence at this marriage feast, the Lord confirmed the goodness of matrimony and blessed married love. With this, his first miracle, Our Lord shows that God supports and blesses this sacrament.
Mary notes that the wine is about to run out and she is concerned. How embarrassing it would be for this young couple to begin their lives together if they could not provide sufficient food and drink for their guests. Mary brings her concern to Jesus and water is turned into wine in abundance. The wedding reception continues and the party goes on.
In the Mediterranean region, wine is a very important part of every meal. And at this wedding feast, the wine was about to give out. We do not know how things got to this point. But it was an opportune moment for Jesus, at this wedding feast, to perform his first miracle, showing his glory and, at the same time, helping his disciples to grow in faith. Although this miracle was his first one, it was not a small one. The “jars” that the servants filled, at the Lord’s command, were large, Jewish in style and made of stone, of the type that were used in those days for their purification ceremonies. The Gospel Reading tells us that each one held one hundred liters. And they filled several. And Jesus did not content himself with just pleasing his mother and helping the family and the newlywed couple. He did all of this by giving them a wine of excellent quality.
The Gospel reading this Sunday teaches us that when we pray to the Most Holy Virgin asking her to help us, we will always find her ready to intercede with her Son for us. And, if we ask for something that is good for us, and we pray with faith, Christ will certainly perform a small miracle for us, first to please his mother, and then to help us in our need.
The Lord himself told us that whatever we ask for in his name would be given to us. He always gives much more than we ask for and much more than we deserve. At the wedding feast of Cana the importance of the intercession of the Virgin Mary is highlighted. There may be some people in our Church who have doubts when we talk about the Virgin Mary being our Mediatrix. It could be that some do not understand what this means. It is a term that we Catholics use to describe the singular role that the Mother of Jesus has in the mission of her Son as Mediator. There are also many non Catholics who, when we call the Virgin, “Mediatrix,” think that this is in conflict with the Bible in which her Son is called the sole Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). Yet, we Catholics are sure that when we call the Most Holy Virgin by that title we do not belittle Christ’s mediation.
The Bible calls on all of us to offer prayers, petitions, intercessions and acts of thanksgiving to God (1 Timothy 2:1). In reality, whenever we pray for someone else we act as mediators for them before Our Lord. And that is what the Virgin Mary does when she asks her Son to help us. The Virgin Mary, because she is the Mother of God, because she lived a life of total dedication and faith, and because she is closely united with her Son in heaven, is the Mediatrix, par excellence, between Him and humanity.
Jesus continues to work His saving acts in our midst occasionally in extraordinary ways. Most often they were in the quiet events of mundane, everyday living. Maybe that’s why we call it “ordinary time”. Day in and day out Jesus is there for us. Without fanfare and in the quiet of our souls He works with us. The trick is to see these saving acts and to know of His presence so that we can believe even more fully that Jesus is the very center of our being and, then to publicly avow this.
posted by Mike Young @ 6:38 AM
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