Isaiah 62 portion No more shall people call you “Forsaken”, or your land “Desolate, “
but you shall be called “My Delight“and your land “Espoused.”
For the LORD delights in you and makes your land his spouse.
As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you;
and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so shall your God rejoice in you.

John 2 portion  There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there (and) Jesus and his disciples… When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him,
“They have no wine.”…His mother said to the servers,“Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars (of) thirty gallons (each). (They got filled to the brim with water.)
Jesus told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”… the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,…saying: “Everyone serves good wine first…but you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this as the beginning of his (miracle) signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.

Homily

Let us go to a wedding in the Gospels. Do you know the way to Cana? It’s just 9 miles from Nazareth. Jesus is going home to pick up Mary to travel over there to this relative’s wedding. It’s happening there in a Cana house, home to the groom, as we know ancient Jewish weddings were not held in the synagogue, but in the man’s house.

Jesus had honored going to this wedding, even while His ministry was underway. Only John’s gospel tells us about it—but John was there at it to tell what had occured. Jesus had brought some disciples in to go to it, as permitted by the groom.

Jesus arrives to this celebration. It’s quite nice to see Him enjoying life at this family wedding. Yet Mary notices something wrong at it; the wedding reception is soon to run out of wine, which to the Jews is near to the worse thing to happen to spoil a wedding event. So the couple needs a rescue. Jesus will give it. Jesus had already more than a hunch that this was to be the place for doing His first miracle. Now it is obvious: Jesus will suddenly supply the wine.  180 gallons of fantastic tasting wine.

John’s gospel has much theology and plenty of deep spiritual pondering behind all its told accounts. Here’s a few examples: John chapter 1 is the re-telling of the Genesis story of “In the beginning” but with Jesus as the re-starter of human history. As Genesis has its male-female become one stories, that God designed marriage and the family model, John chapter 2 purposely goes into a wedding story. Jesus is there to help celebrate how marriage on earth of a man and woman is still important to God.  This is highlighted by the miracle.

What was happening in this turning of the water into wine for this couple?  John conveys that the wedding and reception start was saved by Jesus. Only Jesus could have done what they needed, and supply it so lavishly.

John is likely putting this story out here to start his gospel to say:  Only Jesus can do what you need to have happen well in your life, to save your life, and only Jesus can supply it so lavishly. Running short of wine? Here’s 180 gallons of rich, succulent wine, 99 to 100 score. Need met. ‘Not a wine issue? Well, whatever need that will arise, it become Jesus’ interest in you to supply it.  But what is your situation?

Have you got it together?

What if an observant person, say, like Mary, the Mother of Christ, sees that you really don’t have things in hand. In fact, things are ready to fall apart soon. Would you like her help, and with more than a hint or small suggestion for you, of your getting to save everything?  The mother of Jesus looks out for this couple, so much so, that she goes to tell Jesus:  Son, have you noticed behind the scenes here? The couple will soon not have any wine left to serve, but for what is in the glasses now?

I said that John has deep meanings going on in his good news. This lack of the couple really is also about our own lack. What have we to live life but of our own supply and limitations? Can God’s grace come along and make all the change to our lives? Or will our lives fall short?  (We know that by sin, it will fall short of Heaven. Romans 3:23 say “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Yet John’s gospel will come along in chapter 3 and say that Jesus comes to bring us salvation and new life.  Then in John chapter 6 that He will give us the bread of life and cup of salvation.  Then in John 10 Jesus adds; “I have come to give you abundant life.”

What does this wine in John 2 signify? It is a sign of salvation, the body and blood of Christ, the blessing of marriage and family to blend into the redeemed life with God, and that God has come in Christ as Groom to wed us as bride to Him forever.

Jesus does like weddings.  He loves Holy Matrimony celebrations today. They are headline events to Him, as they mirror His love to the Church and our love to Him.

I like serving at weddings, and seeing couples enter into Sacrament with God in their union. It is wonderful. God is still doing His Cana thing.

Our new parish wedding is in March. It’s Ross and Melanie.  We just finished up our Cana classes yesterday. They are excited: which has me excited.

Saturday I did a baptism of a boy infant. He is the fruit of the love of a couple, who have married in Church, and celebrate being a Catholic family now. It was joyous. It was also neat how the father was baptized here long ago, and now is seeing his own child get the same.

Only God can provide the grace of salvation and of our becoming led into the body of Christ, who will be Jesus’ Bride in the end of things, or fulfillment of all things.

This child of baptism on Saturday will likely be receiving Eucharist down the road of life. In the Masses they attend, Jesus will be providing in a cup His only Blood, paired with His body in the Bread, for Sacrament union with His faithful.  I was thinking that 180 gallons of wine is exceeded every day in the Catholic church worldwide in the miracle wine become Christ’ Blood. It is why Jesus said to Mary of the Cana event: “My great Hour is not yet come.” It would come at the Last Supper, Cross and Resurrection that the gospel of John bookends at the close of the Good News. It will then go forth into the Life of the Church, which the same John saw launch in his time.

An extra aspect of this gospel that I like is of the exchange of Mary and Jesus. I think Jesus and Mary had conversations all through the years up from His childhood and into His ministry time of how God can supply all needs according to His riches. I think Jesus and Mary also discussed of how beautiful a marriage could be—such as this one by relatives in Cana. It was good how people still were following the Genesis model of it, and marrying in the faith.  Jesus loved the man-woman marriage image of two selfless people joining together as one, following the design God worked at the start of the world, since of Genesis times. Jesus knew that many things of the world could come and spoil love and marriage—it was a hard thing to work in a sinful world. Yet people still tried to do it. What a situation, too, for this present couple in Cana. Mary convinces Jesus that He must do something to save the wedded couple’s situation.  Jesus does the big first miracle.  The connection of Mary’s request for it is no minor part of this gospel. It’s important.  Catholic priests and liturgists know this up to our modern weddings and often favor the Ave Maria or Marian song to be included in the wedding liturgy, even with flowers presented before to the Mary statue, in recognizing her real part in every wedding today, in assisting Jesus, Who brings the grace to the Holy Matimony couple.

Mary and Joseph are a great wedded couple of the Salvation Covenant story. So are the couple of Ruth and Boaz, back in Bethlehem a millennia before. I like it when engaged couples plan on using its Bible story in their wedding, from the book of Ruth verses. Or I love it when the include the prayer of Tobias and Sarah of the book of Tobit, or of the lovely verses from the Love Song of Songs, saying such things as “set me as a seal on your heart,” and ”come, my lovely one, come, in love” and “I am your beloved, and you are mine, the banner of us is love.” Another Wedding verse is from today’s Isaiah 62 text of God saying He wants to espouse His people.

This was the first of Jesus’ signs. John knew what he saw and tasted. Incredible. So symbolic, too. A young couple wed is the future hope. He just gave them this wine they needed. Rather than the Cana day being ruined by a cursed sign of running out of supply—Jesus provides a blessed sign of having more than plenty to offer for them.

This is a sign of the new covenant which Christ the bridegroom brings to us and for a final wedding feast. This is the wine of Christ love, poured out generously to save us.

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