Weekly HOMILY for January 14, 2007: Bible Study of the Marriage at Cana

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
January 14, 2007

Bible Study of the Marriage at Cana
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


John’s Gospel

Our new projection system is used at the Sunday 5:00 Alive to project hymns instead of using worship aides. It helps us sing better and keeps our eyes up here on the action rather than buried in the program

A second purpose for which it was intended is in preaching, when that seems appropriate as I think it is for today’s Gospel.

Let me begin by asking, “How many of us have ever been to a Bible Study?”

The purpose of a Bible Study is to take a scripture passage apart, verse-by-verse, and work hard at understanding precisely what the writer is saying. Second, it’s to share how the passage applies to my life.

With the help of PowerPoint I’d like to try doing both of those things today.

Today’s Gospel passage (Slide 1) is taken from the Gospel of John. Now John’s Gospel is very different from the other three. Matthew, Mark and Luke – they are called the Synoptic Gospels because the parallel each rather closely – try to tell the story of Jesus as his life unfolds historically.

John does not so much do that. He is not “synoptic.” Instead, John organizes a lot of his Gospel around key events called “signs.”

Today, with the story of the Wedding Feast at Cana, John gives us the first of the “signs.” So, let us look at this passage carefully and see what it teaches us and how it calls us to transformation.


The Wedding: The Problem

(Slide 2) To begin with, John says that, “There was a wedding at Cana.” In the Old Testament, a wedding banquet was a sign or symbol of God’s presence.

It spoke of the coming of the Messiah or Savior. So, John is saying here (Slide 3) that God is present and the Savior is present to us in some way in this very event, in this very gathering.

(Slide 4) Next, Mary says to Jesus, ‘They have no wine.” Jesus’ mother could simply be concerned here about the embarrassment of the newly married couple in running out of wine.

But on another level, the level of sign, “They have no wine” also means that they – all of humanity – have no way to God. Our relationship with God has run dry.

Then, Jesus responds to his mother, (Slide 5) “`Woman, how does your concern affect me?’” Jesus’ response may sound a bit disrespectful, but there is another level of meaning here. Remember this is John, not Matthew, Mark and Luke.

The word “Woman” is the same word used in the Book of Genesis for Eve, the first woman in creation. So, Jesus is conveying that his mother, Mary is the new Eve, the first woman in the new creation that he is initiating.

Jesus quickly adds, “My hour has not yet come.” On one level, perhaps Jesus simply wants to relax and enjoy himself and not be bothered with anyone’s problems. We’ve all been there!

But in truth, Jesus’ words “my hour” mean the event of his suffering, dying and rising. So, Jesus knows here at Cana that as soon as he starts his divine mission, opposition and hardship will also begin and lead him to “his hour.”


The Wedding: The Solution

So, it appears that Jesus may be trying to dodge his mother’s request.

(Slide 6) However, Mary is undeterred and says to the waiters, “Do whatever he tells you.” So we see that Mary trusts in Jesus, even though she does not yet understand.

In her trust and faith, she gives the servers and us a directive. If were to, “Do whatever he tells us,” we too would experience the action of God in our own lives.

(Slide 7) John, in his Gospel then, carefully notes that there are 6 water jars. To his audience, this means 1 less than 7 – 1 less than the perfect number, 7, a sign of fulfillment or perfection.

For us, it would be getting a 90% on a test and not a perfect 100%. The idea here is that Jesus himself becomes the 7th jar; Jesus becomes the fulfillment or perfection io humanity’s relationship with God.

John also notes that these jars hold “20 to 30 gallons” each. So, there is a lot of water or wine here.

And so (Slide 8) he orders the 7 jars filled. This is a sign that in Jesus, there is an abundance of God’s life and love. There is salvation for everyone, with no one excluded.

(Slide 9) (Read from slide:) “Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”

(Slide 10) (Read from slide:) 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 …”

(Slide 11) And then we have the great testimony of the headwaiter. “Everyone serves good wine first, but you have kept the good wine until now.”

On one level, the headwaiter voices the common sense practice of not holding the good wine until people are a bit tipsy and won’t appreciate it. On another level, these words also say that in Jesus, the best has been saved until last in our relationship with God.


The Wedding: The Sign

(Slide 12) Finally, John concludes this story by saying – and this is key for John – that “Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs.”

So, Jesus’ actions are signs – signs of God’s presence in our lives; signs of God’s action in our lives. We Catholics especially are a people of signs.

Because we are a Sacramental Church, we have the signs of the 7 sacraments. The question for us today is: “Do we bring to these signs the basic trust that the first disciples bring in their witnessing to Jesus’ signs?”

Do we bring this trust to the signing with blessed oil in the Anointing of the Sick or when we say “Amen” to the words “The Body of Christ” before we receive the Eucharist?

We conclude today’s Gospel passage with the words, “his disciples began to believe in him.”

Are we really trying to follow Jesus, as those first disciples did, and bring at least a basic trust to the signs that he has given us? If we do, Jesus can also change water into wine for us and do great things in our lives.