ISAIAH 62:1-5/ 1COR. 12:4-11/ JOHN 2:1-12
Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
The Manifestation at Cana
Today’s Gospel reading presents us with what we may regard as the third Epiphany or Manifestation of Jesus Christ. The first Epiphany known as the “Epiphany of the Lord was celebrated two Sundays ago; the second Epiphany known as the “Baptism of the Lord was celebrated last Sunday and today the Gospel speaks of the third Epiphany which is “the Manifestation at the wedding feast at Canna”. Let us manifest God’s glory that many people will come to believe in him.
To manifest his glory is to manifest his presence. An evil man manifest evil trait. If a Christian should manifest his presence,people will say he or she behaves like Jesus. In Acts 11:26 it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians because they manifested Christ-like attitude.
Again, to manifest his glory is to manifest his gifts as we have it in the second reading in 1Cor. 2:7 “to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” Jesus in his manifestation changed water into wine for the common good. Every Christian therefore is to manifest his gifts for the common good. Every Christian is called to manifest the glory of God and the today’s psalm buttresses this when it echoes “tell among all the people the wonders of the Lord, proclaim his salvation day by day, tell among the nation his glory and his wonders among all the peoples.”
More so, let us reflect on the Divine presence.
The Presence of Jesus: In the Gospel Jesus was present at the wedding feast. The Church attaches paramount importance to Jesus’ presence at the wedding feast. For the Church it confirms perfectly the goodness of marriage and that marriage is an efficacious sign of Christ’s presence (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1613). By Christ’s presence the wedding ceremony becomes a sacrament. In the sacrament of Holy Matrimony the couples bring Christ into their union. Just as Christ changed water into sweet wine he enters into their union to sweeten it, to turn their sorrows into joy and the bible says in Rev.21:3-4 “I the Lord has come to dwell among men… they shall be my people and I shall be their God, […] for the former things have passed away.” Every couple ought to understand this; that with Christ in their union; ‘boyfriends and girlfriends’ have passed away. Former things and affairs have passed away. Therefore, they are expected to align with their new status.
The presence of Jesus and Mary: The presence of Jesus and Mary at the marriage feast saved the couple from disgrace. John 2:3 says; they ran short of wine. A marriage feast in Palestine without wine is no marriage feast at all. For a Jewish feast, wine was essential. ‘Without wine,’ said the Rabbis, ‘there is no joy.’ It was not that people were drunk, but in their own cultural milieu wine was essential. Therefore, it would have been a big shame for the couple and their families to send their guest away without wine. However, when they approached Mary, she interceded on their behalf and Jesus manifested. The presence of Jesus and Mary in our life will save us from disgrace. Isaiah 50:7 says; the Lord helps me therefore I will not be disgraced; in Rom. 10:11 the Bible says “everyone believing on Him will not be put to shame…” The presence of Jesus and Mary in our lives will shame the shame, disgrace the disgrace and humiliate the humiliation.
Beloved, God never abandons his people; no matter what you are going through God cares; and is always ready to deliver us. He reassured us in the first reading of today saying; “for Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn.” God never abandons his people. Therefore we should hasten and trustingly kneel and ask him to help us in the trials and tribulations of our time. Let us resort to Jesus for the Best result.
Lastly, the best result comes when we do the Lord’s will. Oftentimes Christians like the best result but not always ready to align with the Divine Will. In the great advise, Mary said “Do whatever he tells you”. Christians must learn to do God’s will. Whatever it is at all that God demands of us we must learn to do it. In God’s will is our peace.
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Fr. Bitrus Galadima (OSA)
MARRIAGE AS FIRST FRUIT OF CHRIST’S REDEMPTION
The baptism of the Lord which we celebrated last Sunday was particularly marked by the descent of the Holy Spirit and the voice of God the Father proclaiming Christ as his beloved Son (cf. Lk 3:22; Mt 3:17; Mk 1:11).
Today, as we begin again our everyday Christian journey (ordinary time of the liturgical year), we are presented with yet another episode of the revelation of Christ’s glory, this time, by his own action through the prompting of the Mother, Mary, who advices us in our everyday communication and relationship with Christ: “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5).
What a befitting occasion to begin the ordinary time with Christ in the context of marriage and family, the first ordinary community and society inhabited by ordinary people extra-ordinarily (outside schedule) accomplishing ordinary things: living, loving, nourishing and nurturing life.
In the 1st Reading (Isa 62:1-5), the relationship between the Lord and Jerusalem is described using the analogy of marriage, Jerusalem being the bride and the Lord God of Israel, the bridegroom (cf. esp. 62:5).
As the bridegroom, the Lord pledges to do everything necessary for the redemption of Jerusalem his bride: even if he has to be a restless noise-maker, for the sake of Jerusalem he will not keep silent nor be still (62:1).
Jerusalem must shine and must be seen to shine : “Nations shall see your victory and every king your majesty…you shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord” (62:2-3); she shall not appear like a forsaken or abandoned wife in any form but as her husband’s delight, the joy of her Lord (62:4-5).
The words of the Lord and his commitment as bridegroom/husband of Jerusalem his bride, is the great charter (magna carta) for bridegrooms and husbands, the ideal against which bridegrooms and husbands must always measure how much they are worth being so-called: whether they can do anything for the safety and wellbeing of their brides/wives; whether they can not only allow but do everything to make their brides/wives shine, be victorious, majestic and glorious; and whether they can never afford to leave them abandoned or forsaken in any way but rather be, and be unequivocally seen to be the delight and joy of their husbands!
The 2nd Reading (1 Cor 12:1-11) underscores the family nature of our gifts/charisms (charismátōn), ministries/services (diakoniôn) and activities/actions (energēmátōn) which although different, derive from the same source and are geared towards the same goal: the same Spirit activates all our gifts; all our ministries are in the service of the same Lord; and all our activities are permitted by the same God and geared towards the common good.
Thus, advancement of the common good, not one’s personal interest, becomes the canon/ruler with which we can measure the genuineness of how we use our gifts and how we render our service and the kind of activities we undertake.
The Gospel Reading (John 2:1-11) is the account of the first of the signs (archḗn tôn sēmeíōn) that Jesus performed (cf. 2:11). The occasion is a “marriage” or “wedding” (Gk, “gámos”), which alludes to the messianic banquet; the time is “the third day”, which foreshadows the resurrection, the ultimate moment of Jesus’ redemption work; the place is “Cana of Galilee”, also mentioned in Jn 4:46 as the place where the royal official from Capernaum came to meet Jesus to intercede for his son who was at the point of death. Thus, Cana can be associated with a place of family redemption.
The main characters are “the mother of Jesus”, of whom it is said, “and the mother of Jesus was there” (2:1), and Jesus himself and his disciples of whom it is said, “Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding” (2:2). These are all central characters in the unfolding of our redemption story.
The purpose of the miracle is indicated at the very of the story: Jesus “revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him” (2:11b), thus indicating the role of the disciple as one who is a witness of the revelation of the glory of Jesus and one who has come to believe in him.
Though Jesus thought the hour to reveal his glory had not yet come, Mary knew as if by instinct, as mothers always do, that it was necessary for Jesus to reveal his glory even at this point. She also noticed the need of the new couple for more wine and so said to Jesus: “they have no wine” (Gk, “oînon oùk èchousin”).
The response of Christ, “Tí emoì kaì soí, gúnai;” literally, “what to me and to you, o woman?”, has been misused by some for confessional debates, suggesting that it shows how Christ had no serious regard for his mother. Wanting to diminish the dignity or importance of Mary, these, unfortunately, end up making a sad commentary on Christ, not on the mother, if they think of Christ as being disrespectful to his mother in any form and at any point.
But far from that. The vocative, “gúnai” (woman), is used three other times in John in the context of revelation: in Jn 4:21, in the conversation of Jesus with the Samaritan woman; in 19:26, Jesus on the cross uses the term to entrust his mother to the disciple John and vice versa; and in 20:13.15, the angel uses it for Mary Magdalene as she stood at the empty tomb weeping and searching for Jesus. Clearly, the usage, rather than being disrespectful, suggests intimacy of experience with Jesus.
Furthermore, the dative forms in the expression, “what to me and to you” can also be interpreted as ethical datives, thus, translatable as, “O woman, what concerns me also concerns you?”, or “what interests me also interests you?”, since the conjunction, “and” (Gk, “kaì”), also means “also” or “too”. This would mean that Jesus must have also noticed and must have been concerned too about the need of this couple and so was expressing an exclamation on the fact that his mother also shared the same observation and concern.
For clearly, it cannot be said that Jesus who is divine was unaware of the problem of the couple and came to know about it only when his mother approached him. And if he knew, he could certainly not have cared less about it, he who tells us, “Come to me all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28).
May the intercessory presence of Mary and the redeeming presence of Jesus grace our families and marriages, and so bring back the joy of couples who are facing difficult and challenging times! Also, may couples rediscover the dignity of marriage as a communion of love and life, the Lord’s beloved metaphor for his relationship with and commitment for the city and the people he chose as his own. Amen!
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Happy Sunday and God bless you.
