Many of us may have thought that Jesus only worked miracles to heal the sick, or cure lepers, or feed the hungry crowds, and so on. But it actually seems that his very "first miracle" which we heard about today in John's Gospel (Jn 2:1-11) is to support a well under way wedding "party" to continue with even more and better alcohol.
I've often wondered (when I give in to my funny bone) whether, after the Cana event, Jesus and his mother were regularly invited to all kinds of parties by people with ulterior motives
We need to remember that the evangelist John makes great use of metaphor, as do all of the writers of scripture. His stories have a much deeper meaning than the words alone would indicate. The audience of those days - in St. John's case, his church community - would also easily make the "connection" between the words used and their special meaning. For example, "wedding party" when used in a context of scripture almost always is a reference to the "Kingdom of God" theme or messianic banquet.
So in this Cana story, we see Jesus use six stone jars of water (used for Jewish rites of purification), and replace their contents (simple water) with something far more valuable and important in daily life (rich and "good" wine). As well as that, he provides them with almost 180 gallons of this wonderful, joy-giving liquid! The message is clear: an abundance of blessings awaits those who invite Jesus into their homes. All they have to do is to put Jesus at the centre of their lives and follow him on a pilgrim journey that will be rich in spiritual blessings beyond their wildest dreams. Jesus is replacing the Jewish rituals with his own person (becoming Eucharist for us). The teaching from Mary that we need to take to heart and put into practice is to, "Do whatever he tells you".
So many lessons are contained in today's gospel! Mary's role as our model for intercessory prayer is revealed. It was his Mother's request that launched his public ministry and revealed his glory, so we need to trust in Mary's intercession. Finally, the Church sees the presence of Jesus at the wedding as a confirmation of the goodness of marriage between a man and a woman, and also a proclamation that marriage will henceforth be an important and sacramental sign of Christ's presence.
I've often wondered (when I give in to my funny bone) whether, after the Cana event, Jesus and his mother were regularly invited to all kinds of parties by people with ulterior motives
We need to remember that the evangelist John makes great use of metaphor, as do all of the writers of scripture. His stories have a much deeper meaning than the words alone would indicate. The audience of those days - in St. John's case, his church community - would also easily make the "connection" between the words used and their special meaning. For example, "wedding party" when used in a context of scripture almost always is a reference to the "Kingdom of God" theme or messianic banquet.
So in this Cana story, we see Jesus use six stone jars of water (used for Jewish rites of purification), and replace their contents (simple water) with something far more valuable and important in daily life (rich and "good" wine). As well as that, he provides them with almost 180 gallons of this wonderful, joy-giving liquid! The message is clear: an abundance of blessings awaits those who invite Jesus into their homes. All they have to do is to put Jesus at the centre of their lives and follow him on a pilgrim journey that will be rich in spiritual blessings beyond their wildest dreams. Jesus is replacing the Jewish rituals with his own person (becoming Eucharist for us). The teaching from Mary that we need to take to heart and put into practice is to, "Do whatever he tells you".
So many lessons are contained in today's gospel! Mary's role as our model for intercessory prayer is revealed. It was his Mother's request that launched his public ministry and revealed his glory, so we need to trust in Mary's intercession. Finally, the Church sees the presence of Jesus at the wedding as a confirmation of the goodness of marriage between a man and a woman, and also a proclamation that marriage will henceforth be an important and sacramental sign of Christ's presence.
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