Homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C
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The story of the Lord’s First Miracle is brief in its telling, but there’s more to it than meets the ear. Saint John has packed this story about the inauguration of the Lord’s Public Life with more clues than a murder mystery about: who Jesus is… who His Mother is… and how He will live His Public Life. So, we’ll look at the various elements of this story in order to see what Saint John is teaching us:
+The Setting
+The Cast of Characters
+The Miracle Performed
+The Sacrament Instituted
+Mary’s Parting Words
The Setting
Cana in Galilee is modern-day Kefr Kenna, located four miles northeast of Nazareth. I’ve visited there twice while on pilgrimage: once six years ago and about forty years ago as well. Forty years ago it was a dusty little town in the middle of nowhere. Today it’s a small, but bustling city, inhabited mostly by Palestinian Muslims, pretty much ignored by the Israeli government. There is a small church there, very likely located on the site where the Wedding Feast took place. The church there commemorates both the Miracle of the water-turned-wine, and the Lord’s Institution of the Sacrament of Marriage.
The story, as we heard, takes place at a wedding reception. Beginning the account of the Lord’s Ministry at a party, Saint John links the Lord’s humility with His divine power. He also notes the generosity of the gift provided by Our Lord: six jars, each holding 20-30 gallons. This would be more than 50 modern bottles, so this was going to be quite a party!
The Cast of Characters
Conspicuous in his absence is Saint Joseph. Tradition suggests that he had already died before the beginning of the Lord’s Ministry. We last hear about him at the story of The Finding in the Temple, in Saint Luke’s Gospel, eighteen years previous to this.
The Bride and Groom are never mentioned, though their Wedding party provides the setting for the story. The unnamed Wine Steward is granted a speaking rôle, but not the equally nameless servants.
At the beginning of the story we learn that the Lord’s Disciples had accompanied Him. (This passage follows immediately upon the story of the Calling of the First Disciples, which makes some sense, because the Lord’s Call concerns primarily His invitation to friendship.) But later, at the end of the story, we learn that His “brethren” went along with Him, His Mother and Disciples, back to Nazareth. Who, then, were these “brethren”? We find our answer in a different story, in the Gospel of Matthew (12:46-50). Jesus is informed while He is teaching, that His Mother and brethren wished to see Him. He responds, “Who is my mother, and who are my brethren? Whoever does the Will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister and mother.” This is not a dismissal of His closest relatives, but an expansion of His identity into the whole of humanity who will believe in Him.
We can add to this our understanding that in the Lord’s native language of Aramaic, the words “brothers” and “brethren” are used more inclusively and interchangeably than we use them in contemporary English. The word “brethren” was used to describe those belonging to the same family, clan or tribe. The Church has consistently professed that Jesus had no blood brothers and sisters; it is dogma that Mary was ever-Virgin.
The Blessed Virgin MaryDid you notice that Saint John gives Mary top-billing in this story, rather than Jesus? John tells us, “There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the Mother of Jesus was there.” Only thereafter does he expand: “Jesus was also invited… with His disciples. (This deference can be seen architecturally in the church at Cana today, as the Crucifix is located above the front door, but a statue of Mary is placed at the apex of the rooftop, above it.) This introduction of the Blessed Mother alerts the listener to the fact that Mary is being mentioned for the first time (John’s Gospel has no Infancy Narrative.) and that she will have a significant rôle not only in this story, but in the Lord’s further Public Ministry.
The point being made, however, and it is important to note, is that in John’s Gospel Mary appears only twice: here, and at the foot of the Cross. She is present like bookends at the beginning and ending of the Lord’s Public Life. And did you notice that the Evangelist doesn’t give us Mary’s name, but refers to her three times as “the Mother of Jesus”? I’ve never found a commentary on this; it remains for me a curiosity, since her name is found in the other Gospels. Perhaps John, writing his Gospel at the end of the First Century, assumed that his readers would all know Mary’s name…
Now properly introduced, we learn of Mary’s rôle as central to this story, and as central to the nascent Church. The episode of the Wedding Feast reveals a new dimension of Mary’s motherhood: this will be a motherhood according to the spirit, and not just the bodily motherhood in which she bore Our Lord. Beginning at this moment we will come to know Mary’s solicitude not only for the Bride and Groom, but blossoming into her care for all mankind and her willingness to bring our cares to her Son, Our Lord.
Mary places herself between her Son and mankind. In doing so, she acts as a Mediatrix, not as an outsider but as a mother. Think back to your childhood: sometimes when you wanted something from your Father you asked your Mother to intercede.
The MiracleNow, although Jesus is among the cast of characters, we will look at Him in this moment primarily as miracle-worker. Two elements arise here in the conversation between Mother and Son:
+Jesus addresses her as “woman.”
+ Jesus says of the wine shortage: “What has this to do with you and me?”
Addressing His Mother as “Woman” and then asking this question might sound disrespectful to us. Why would He call His Mother “Woman” instead of “Mother” or the Aramaic “Amma”? The Gospel was written in Greek, not the Lord’s native tongue. The word for woman in this context in the original Greek is meant as a term of respect, higher than the more intimate name “Amma.” The Lord addresses His Mother this way a second time, at the foot of the Cross (that other bookend) when He speaks to her of Saint John, saying, “Woman, behold your son.”
Back at the Wedding, when Jesus then says to His Mother, “How does this concern you and Me?”, the question reflects a middle-eastern idiom with various shades of meaning. The Lord’s statement seems to imply that, although in principle, it was not part of God’s plan to use His power to solve a minor crisis, Our Lady’s request moves Him to act: His hour, that is, the discovery of His divine power by others, is now thrust upon Him by one who knows Him and loves Him more than any other person.
The Lord uses no words or gestures to enact His first miracle. Though He gives some instructions to the servants, no one witnesses the miracle itself. With nothing outward or showy, the miracle takes place within the hidden darkness of the stone jugs. For both Mary and Jesus, this moment is not abut them; it is a moment of concern for the well-being of others.
The Sacrament of Holy MatrimonyOur Lord was a guest it this Wedding, but not the officiating Rabbi. Even so, the Church regards Our Lord’s presence as the Wedding as highly significant, reading it as a confirmation of the goodness and holiness of marriage, as well as an announcement that from here on, marriage will be an effective sign of the presence of Christ within the most intimate relationships, and within the Church, who must model marital and baptismal fidelity to the world.
Among the seven Sacraments, Marriage, or Holy Matrimony, is unique, While with the other six, the sacraments are conferred by the priest, bishop or deacon, in Marriage, the man and woman confer the Sacrament upon each other in the presence of the priest. Every Sacrament contains two elements: matter and form. In Holy Matrimony, the matter is the vows, and the form is the exchange of these vows in the presence of the priest who receives them in persona Christi.
Mary’s Parting WordsSo, we see that Saint John packed a lot into this story. It all has meaning for us, but if we were to take away only one thought from this, it might be to enact the words which the Blessed Mother said to the wine steward concerning Jesus: “Do whatever He tells you.”