The readings for the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year C may be found at:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011622.cfm
Today, Saint John tells us about the wedding feast at Cana, where Jesus saves the bridegroom and his family from embarrassment and ridicule with the first miracle of his public ministry.
In this miracle, he turns simple water into wine.
Several years ago, when I was in formation to become a permanent deacon, my classmates and I used to like to joke about how Jesus’ first public miracle was a “packy run”.
Now, wedding feasts like the one at Cana could last for 7 days straight.
Wine was an indispensable element of meals and celebration and was used to create a festive atmosphere, not so different, I think, from today.
And Jesus’ participation in this wedding feast is a good reminder for us that Jesus participates in the events of our life.
Jesus isn’t just for Sundays - He is for every day of the week!
Now, Jesus is not a wedding crasher, Jesus was there by invitation. And that invitation put Him in the position to turn that water into wine. No invitation. No Jesus. No wine.
Like the wedding feast, our life doesn’t always go as planned. It’s good to know that when problems do come we can take them to Jesus. Jesus understands our pain and feels our need.
Jesus is standing by ready with the solution to our problem, but instead of butting in, instead of being a wedding crasher, He waits patiently for our invitation.
But, do we invite Him in?
Too often, we leave Jesus on the outside looking in.
Now, Mary plays an important role at this wedding and in the process gives us two things we can do when things go wrong for us.
First, take it to Jesus. When confronted with a difficulty, Take it to the Lord.
Second, Follow His Commands - do what He tells you.
The lesson for us is clear.
When problems come - and they do, seemingly faster than our ability to keep up with them, the best thing we can do is is talk to Jesus and listen to what Jesus says to do.
To Come to Him. To cast our cares on Him. To Trust Him. To do what He tells us.
And if we do these things, Jesus will take the commonplace and deliver the extraordinary.
Now, it may not be exactly how we think He should do it or when, but God never sleeps and He will move on our situation if we invite Him to do so.
Nobody in the world may understand what we are going through, but Jesus does!
To everyone else at the wedding, on the outside looking in, it was just wine, but to those closest to Jesus, to those who knew the truth, it was more than just wine, it was a miracle.
And what does this mean to us?
Jesus is tied to the events of our life, if we invite Him in and are close to Him, by talking to Him, through our active prayer life, by staying in communion with Him each day and not just on Sundays.
Jesus is not just some supernatural being who is totally removed from us.
He cares about the smallest details of our life and He waits for us to call Him into our times of joy and need so that He can minister to us.
What is our need today?
What is the burden we are carrying?
Are we having difficulty forgiving?
Are we caught in a pattern of sin that we don’t know how to get out of?
Are we losing hope?
Some circumstances may very well be out of our control, but that is why we need to bring them to Jesus.
Invite Him in.
Let him turn water into wine in our lives.
And if we do that and do it consistently and thoughtfully and lovingly, Jesus will not only turn water into wine for us, He will turn it into the highest quality, best wine and he will do so in abundance.
More than a packy run, Christ can and will obtain supernatural gifts for us. If we only ask Him and do what He tells us.
