Homily January 17, 2016
“Do whatever he tells you.” With these words of intercession,
Mary initiates the first miraculous intervention of Jesus.
The stage had been set. John the Baptist had spoken of Jesus’
imminent coming. A voice from heaven acknowledged his identity
at his baptism. John the Baptist uses the terms, “The Son of God
and The Lamb of God” in referencing Jesus.
But on this day, Jesus was just a young man attending a wedding
with his followers and his mother… assured that his time had not
yet come. Today was a celebration reflective of his culture, lasting
for days. And the wine ran out. This was death to the celebration.
All life was about to drain from this event. And Mary intervenes.
The temptation is to focus solely on the miracle of water
becoming wine. But the scripture doesn’t do that. It focuses more
on other details…the stone containers and the water used to fill
them. The action taken in this all important, first expression of
Jesus’ ministry…his premier miracle… involves valuable handcarved stone vessels left dry, empty and unused… and a request
that they be filled with water.
If we are honest in reflecting on this, we might recognize
ourselves in the story. We are those empty jars in Cana.
“They have no wine,” Mary’s words are not a condemnation or
judgment but simply an observation of a reality. This is a story
about people. It is a statement about the human condition. It is
about you and me. It is about our inner life, our way of being.
And there are times in our life when we can clearly see the extent
of our emptiness. Perhaps it is after the breakup of a relationship,
or the loss of a loved one. Maybe we have been laid off from a
job, suffered financial ruin, became involved in something
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Homily January 17, 2016
scandalous or even criminal… or find ourselves caught in cycle of
an addiction that never quite satisfies.
We can spend a lifetime trying to fill ourselves with stuff, with
careers and possessions and superficial relationships, but in the
end there is only one person who can fill our emptiness.
“They have no wine.” With these words Mary speaks a truth about
our lives…the day when the wine gives out. The glasses are all
empty. The party is over. There is no vibrancy or vitality. Nothing
is growing or developing within us. Our world is colorless and
tasteless. The bouquet of life is absent and we are simply existing
but not fully alive.
No matter how long, or how hard we go about fooling ourselves
that our efforts to manage our own path, our own spirituality, our
own destiny without truly listening to what our Lord tells us …it is
always the day that the wine runs out that the true miracle begins.
Our involvement at the wedding at Cana is as participants,
seeking union with God, intimacy, and wholeness. And Mary
intercedes. She gives the same instruction then, as she does
today. “Do whatever he tells you.”
And Jesus does then what he continues to do today. He sees that
which is precious, created uniquely by hand, but not functioning
as it is meant to… and he asks that it be filled with that which is
pure in order that it might be transformed by him.
Jesus does not simply refill our glasses so that we can carry on
just as before. He takes us, empty, dry and dysfunctional…tells us
to fill ourselves with that which is pure and life-giving…and then
he transforms our lives...and water becomes wine.
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Homily January 17, 2016
That which was colorless is now vibrant red. That which had no
taste now tickles the tongue. That which had no fragrance now
has a full bouquet. That which had no life is now fermenting,
active, and alive.
“Do whatever he tells you”…This is Mary’s guidance to listen to
Jesus’ instruction for us to fill ourselves with those things that are
of God, those things that are loving, life-giving, pure and
compassionate. Become filled with all that allows death to be
turned into life, sorrow into joy, and despair into hope. Be
transformed… and then go and do with courage those things you
never thought possible.
We are the new wine, the best wine…the wine that has been
transformed from nothingness into that which is exquisite and
filled with grace.
In addressing the people of Ecuador, Pope Francis said, “The
best wine is yet to come, in spite of all the variables and statistics
which say otherwise. The best wine will come to those who today
feel hopelessly lost.”
We are that “best wine”, sent out to all so that they may partake of
it…sent out to the hopeless and the loveless, to those on the
peripheries, and to those who drink only of discouragement.
It is not our place in society to be the hand-wringers, the fearmongers, the ones asking how and when things are going to
finally change for the better. The one who came to heal the world
and bring about the kingdom is among us… transforms us into the
new wine…and sends us out to further the kingdom through acts
of kindness, compassion, mercy and love for all of humanity.
“The world is crying out…the wine is gone! Mary says to us, “Do
whatever he tells you”. And then…Let the miracle begin!
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