Readings
Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 36:5-10
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
John 2:1-11
Today’s story is a troubling one. Oh, it may not appear so on the surface. But if we take time to consider what the story is telling us then we too might find our hearts both troubled and moved.
In this morning’s Gospel we have a wedding at which Jesus, his disciples, and presumably his family have come. Then without much narrative we hear that the party they are at has run out of wine. Jesus’ mother tells him as much and his response is one of indifference. “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?” In other words, “so what?!?” Mary doesn’t even argue with Jesus. Trusting that he will do what she implicitly asks, she turns to the servants and tells them “Do whatever he tells you.” Jesus then has them fill these six huge jars of water (about 30 gallons each) and then, without fanfare or gesture, tells them to draw some and take it to the chief steward (this would, in effect, be the caterer for the banquet). To his and our surprise the water has been transformed into wine. But not just any wine, the best wine of all. And we hear that because of this his disciples believed in him.
Now I’m not denying that this story could have happened just the way it is told. But it is more likely that this is a parable about Jesus. This is a story designed to teach us something about him and about God. Its purpose is, at least at the most basic level, to communicate to us that he is God incarnate. It is a sign of the nature of the world when God is in charge.
The problem is that stories like the miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee leave us trusting in the generosity and abundance of God. They leave us to believe that the best is yet to come. Except that we do not live in a world of generosity and abundance. We live in a world marked by a history of the stain of slavery, the genocide of Native peoples, and the Holocaust. We live in a world even now marked by poverty, suffering, and evil.
How do we reconcile such a reality with the idea that the Divine is a God of compassion, mercy, and steadfast love? What are we to make of the images from today’s Gospel that point to the idea that God responds to need with lavish generosity and abundance?
Well friends, the only way I can make sense out of it is to once again claim what the whole of the New Testament proclaims. Namely that we ourselves are the Body of Christ in the world today. God has adopted us as his own and calls us to be his living presence in the world. If the truth of the world is one in which children play in bomb craters or where desperate mothers must say to their small children “we have no food,” then we have no one to blame for that reality but ourselves.
But even as I say these words, I can already hear that small voice in the back of my head saying “but I am not the world. I don’t create this reality.” And that may well be true. But even so, it doesn’t get us off the hook. We are called to be God’s hands and heart in this world. We are called to be agents of peace and reconciliation. We are called to work actively in such a way that the water jars are filled and the best wine is then discovered.
And what about all those who seem ignorant or indifferent to the needs all around us. Well then we are to be like Mary, prodding the Christ within them to respond even in the face of their protests.
Such actions will bind us to God and to our fellow human beings in amazing and miraculous ways. If we have the courage to do so, God through us will bring peace, right injustice, and feed the poor. We ourselves will be transformed, the world will witness Christ at work, and the kingdom of God will come near.
May we have the quiet and faithful vision of Mary. May we, like the servants, do what is asked of us. And may we, like Jesus, be agents of transformation in the world today.