May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for
us.
Words are important.
First words and final words are of particular importance. Today in our reading from the Gospel of John,
we hear the first words spoken by the Mother of Jesus in this Gospel. We also hear the final words spoken by the
Mother of the Lord in the Scriptures.
The Blessed Mother, along with the Lord Jesus and his disciples,
were invited to a wedding at Cana in Galilee.
The grand and extended celebration which was customary in that culture
and at that time was nearly ruined when the wine ran short. This would not have been seen by the guests
and the wedding party simply as a lack of preparation. This would have been taken as a sign that the
abundant blessing of God had not descended on the newly married couple or on
their family. It is for this reason, out
of a loving concern for the couple and their family, that the Mother of Jesus
breaks her sacred silence. They have no wine. The first words of the Mother of Jesus that
are recorded in the Gospel of John express a fact, a concern, and a
petition. There is a particular quality
of the words spoken by a mother that a simple phrase can contain such meaning
and such power. With her simple phrase,
Mary presents the need that she is aware of, her concern for those affected by
this need, and her request that her son respond with divine power to that need.
We do not know from this passage in the Gospel if the Mother
of Jesus was related to the family of the wedding couple. Cana is several miles from Nazareth. She may have been a distant relative or
simply a member of the larger community.
We do not know the place of that couple in the life of the Mother of
Jesus.
But we do know our place.
We were created in the image and likeness of God. We have been marked with the cross, washed in
the water, and anointed with the Spirit to bear the likeness of the Son of God,
to bear also the likeness of her Son. We
are not distant relatives of the Mother of the Lord Jesus. We are not neighbors. We are her children, because we are united by
the bonds of sacramental grace to her Son.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, with complete confidence and
childlike faith we reveal our needs and our concerns and our petitions to the
Mother of Jesus so that she will present them to the Lord Jesus as her needs
and her concerns and her petitions.
There is a particular power in the words spoken by a mother to her Son.
The final words spoken by the mother of the Lord Jesus in the
Scriptures are spoken to the servers at the wedding feast. Do
whatever he tells you. These final
words contain an invitation to obedience for the servers and the confidence of
a mother in the power of her Son. It was
a word of obedience spoken by the Virgin Mary many years before this wedding
that brought about the Incarnation of the Son of God. It was the response of obedience by the
servers at the wedding that brought about the first sign that the Kingdom of
God was at hand in the Lord Jesus. It is
our word and our response of obedience to the invitation of the Lord and the
instruction of his mother that draws us more and more into the life of God Most
High.
As we now enter into the great mystery of the Wedding Feast
of the Lamb of God, we reveal our needs and our concerns and our petitions to
the mother of the bridegroom. With
confidence we turn to the Mother of the Lord and listen attentively to the
words of her Son. And we pray to
obediently respond to whatever the Lord tells us, so that Jesus Christ may be
praised as his holy Mother prays for us.
Amen.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic
Church, Monroe, NC
