January 20^th. Second Sunday of Ordinary Time
Gospel: John 2:1-11

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

GOSPEL  John 2:1-11

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”
And Jesus said to her,
“Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,
each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told the them, “Fill the jars with water.”
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”
So they took it.  And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,
without knowing where it came from
— although the servers who had drawn the water knew —,
the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first,
and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;
but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee
and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.

The story of the wedding feast at Cana contains many unexpected elements that do not immediately hit the eye. Don Fabio shows us how it contains crucial themes that we must embrace if we are to live the Christian life. The story points out to us the joy and beauty that God has planned for each of us. It demonstrates how we have lost sight of this joy and beauty. It tells us what we must do to experience the fullness of joy that God wishes for us. The headwaiter in the story unwittingly says something that is the key to the entire passage and to the living out of the spiritual life! Please try to read the translation to the end to discover the rich and inspirational jewels buried in this wonderful passage of Scripture!

The miracle at Cana reveals the fundamental elements of the spiritual life

This incredibly rich text has many resonances with other key passages in Scripture, and it evokes many themes of the spiritual life. The importance of the passage is underlined by its closing lines, which state that the miracle at Cana was performed by Jesus as the “beginning of his signs”. In the original Greek, the word for “beginning” is arche, and refers to the first in terms of importance, not only in chronological terms. This sign in Galilee is of primary importance because it contains elements that are fundamental for the whole of John’s Gospel, and also for the spiritual life.

The passage progresses in four stages

The passage is organised in four parts. First of all, there is a wedding feast, and this represents joy, life and love. The encounter between the male and the female represents the origin of life and love. Much of the folklore of various societies is linked to the theme of matrimony. No celebration is given so much care and importance as a marriage celebration. In the second part of the passage, a problem arises. We discover that the joy promised by the wedding feast is missing something. Wine is of primary importance for the celebration because it represents abundance. Water is an ordinary element and represents abstinence, whilst wine is the extraordinary element that represents the joy, colour and flavour of the celebration. The joy and abundance promised in the first part of the passage evaporates in the second part. In the third part there is an intervention of God, an intervention of providence, and this intervention is prompted by the initiative of the Virgin Mary. The intervention of Christ makes humanity capable of achieving something unexpected. Jesus tells the servants what to do, and it is they who physically perform the miracle - a beautiful illustration of the way that Christ works through our hands. In this third part, we see the healing of the deficiency that was manifested in the second part. And what a healing it is! There is now an abundance of wine. In the fourth part of the Gospel, the headwaiter takes centre stage. His role is to highlight the way in which God works. As we have seen, the original problem in the wedding celebration is resolved by divine intervention. But not only that: the wine that is now served is of the highest quality. The headwaiter then makes a comment that is of central importance for understanding the significance of the passage: “Everyone serves good wine first, but you have kept the good wine until now.” We will discuss later why these words are of central importance for the spiritual lives of each of us.

            These four parts are the structural foundation of the spiritual life. Through the miracle of Galilee we can discern a progression that is of fundamental importance for each of our lives. Let us now consider the four parts in greater detail.

First part: God creates us for a beautiful purpose, for a wedding feast of joy.

It is crucially important that we recognize the significance of the wedding feast. God’s plan for us is a plan that is directed towards beauty and joy. We have been created for a beautiful purpose. The deepest truth about humanity is in no way connected to what is negative or evil. Evil is a tumour that can be eliminated. It is not part of the original nature of the human being. Even if sin appears to have invaded every aspect of our existence, it remains an alien element in our lives.

Second part: The wedding feast for which God created us has gone wrong

John’s Gospel begins with the words “In the beginning was the Word.” The book of Genesis begins with the exact same words, “In the beginning . .,” and then it culminates in the creation of man and woman on the sixth day. If we follow the episodes described in the first part of John’s Gospel in the original Greek, then we discover that the wedding feast of Cana occurs on the sixth day of John’s description of events. In this way, John’s description of the event at Cana is a reference to the coming into being of a new creation of man and woman. The entire Old Testament bears witness to the fact that something is amiss in creation. This is alluded to by the fact that at Cana the wine is missing. The original wedding feast for which God created us has gone awry. The mother of Jesus has the wisdom to discern that something is gravely wrong. Mary has a fundamental part to play in this Gospel (we do not have time here to reflect in detail on her crucial role in the resolution of the crisis), and she says to Jesus, “They have no wine.” It is important that we appreciate the state that we are in. We cannot embark on the spiritual life unless, a) we recognize that we have been created for beauty and joy; and, b) we accept that we are betraying this beauty.

Third part: Healing

The third part of the Gospel is centred on the fundamental element of obedience: “Do whatever he tells you.” What is it that heals us? By walking in God’s paths as well as we are able in the impoverished state that we find ourselves. Just as the servants did in the story, the best we can do is fill the bottles with water. But Jesus transforms our water into wine. We must do what we can, but then Jesus takes our efforts and brings them to wondrous fruition.

Fourth part: We come to the fullness of life by living God’s logic, not our logic

Once we have obeyed, once we have had the experience of following his paths, once we have witnessed his power and seen his glory, then we must discover the key that will permit us to remain in this state of joy. This is where the headwaiter takes centre stage. He says, “Everyone gives the good wine first and then the inferior wine. But you have kept the good wine until last.” In other words, God always gives the good wine afterwards. The first headwaiter of history, the serpent in the garden of Eden, teaches Eve to eat first that which tastes good and ignore the consequences. The master of ceremonies in the Cana story represents human wisdom, and he chides the spouse for holding the good wine back. Jesus is the new and authentic master of ceremonies, and he teaches us that we arrive at true light and joy only through the Cross. After the bitterness of obedience comes the sweetness of the new creation. This is the path that we must take if the wedding feast that God has prepared for us is to come to fruition. God gives the good wine, the fullness of joy, only after that fleeting moment in which we undergo the loss, the renunciation, of ourselves. By this “small death” to ourselves in obedience we arrive at the fullness of new life. In this way the story of Cana sets down splendidly the parameters for living the spiritual life.