2nd Sunday of the Year
18 January 2004
Dear Friends in Christ,
As I explained in my homily on January 4th, the Solemnity of the Epiphany embraces three manifestations of Christ’s divine glory: the first to the Magi during their visit to Bethlehem, the second to John the Baptist and his followers at Christ’s Baptism in the Jordan, and the third to Christ’s mother and his first disciples at the wedding feast of Cana in Galilee. The sacred liturgy celebrated the visit of the Magi on January 4th and the Baptism of Christ on January 11th, and today we celebrate the third manifestation: the wedding feast at Cana.
St. John the Evangelist describes this event in the first eleven verses of the second chapter of his gospel, one of the richest passages in all of Sacred Scripture. When I was a theology student, we spent an entire semester of one course studying just these eleven verses, and even then there was always more to think about. I encourage you in the week ahead to get out your Bible at home and go back to John 2: 1-11 over and over. Read these words slowly and carefully; close your eyes and try to picture the scene with all its vivid details….the newly wed couple, their family and friends, the festive atmosphere of a wedding party, the wine flowing freely (too freely!), the embarrassed waiters, the concern of Mary for this young couple, the presence of Jesus in the midst of the swirling party, the intercession of Mary with her Son, the foreshadowing of his passion and death (his hour), the miracle itself as a revelation of divine power in human hands, the connection of water and wine as a preparation for Baptism and the Eucharist and a token of the union between the human and the divine in Christ, the rich quality of the new wine as a token of God’s superabundant goodness, the role of Mary as a teacher of discipleship, and finally the faith awakened in the hearts of the disciples by this first of the signs worked by the Lord Jesus.
The Gospel of St. John is the first of several Scriptural texts written by the youngest Apostle, and the Book of Revelation is the last. His gospel opens with the wedding at Cana, and Revelation closes with the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. John’s final and glorious vision of the blessed life of the saints is surely connected to this simple account of a very human scene of joy in marriage and wine, family and friends. In such a setting did the Lord Jesus reveal his glory and awaken saving faith in his disciples. Let us rejoice at the simple blessings of our lives and see in them a reflection of God’s glory leading us to salvation.
Father Newman