Second Sunday, Year C

Each year, the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time has its own particular integrity. It is like a gateway, which might be called an ‘Icon of greeting’ taken from the Gospel according to John, in front of which the liturgy has us pause before beginning the long road of ‘Green Sunday’s.’ 

There are many Epiphanies (Showing’s — Manifestation’s) of the Lord which show his true divine self, and the Church chooses three main ones in particular which she gives us in the season of Christmastide. The Nativity where the Son of God is born in a stable at Bethlehem. The Epiphany (Jan 6th) where the three wise men from the East (possibly kings) are led by a star to the stable in Bethlehem wherein lay the ‘King of Kings’, and the Baptism of the Lord in the Jordan, where the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus from above after his Baptism and the Father declares his pleasure in his only begotten Son.

Following on from the Christmastide epiphanies —today at ‘The Wedding Feast of Cana,’ where Our Blessed Lord shows his miraculous powers for the first time, we see yet another epiphany. All Epiphanies show the divinity of the Word made Flesh. 

The ‘Sign of Cana’ is important not just because it is the first of the signs that Jesus accomplished, but at this the threshold of Ordinary Time C — This ‘Sunday of Cana’ is the pivotal point or hinge between two periods of the liturgical year. To dwell a little before this Icon, to retain a mental impression of it, allows for a better subsequent reading of Luke’s Gospel, which we shall follow throughout the Ordinary Time Sundays of Year C. In its symbolic dimension, the miracle of Cana allows one to see all at once what is implied in Jesus’ coming into this world. While celebrating his Baptism, we have contemplated the founder and ruler of the new people coming out of the Jordan and receiving the Spirit. And now, one week later, the Sunday celebration focuses on the divine glory that is at work in the world since Jesus’ first miracle, ready to be extended, thanks to his ministry, to all who believe in him. 

It comes as no surprise then, that John would have accorded particular importance to this ‘first sign’accomplished at Cana in Galilee: It was among the festivities at a wedding that Jesus changed water into wine: this was only a few days after John had followed him and spent a week with him and witnessed these things. But John edited his Gospel toward the end of his life, after having reflected for a long time on the events he had witnessed and having spoken many times about them in his preaching and teaching. Clearly, it was in the light of both events and his well-developed faith that he spoke of ‘the beginning of the signs that Jesus accomplished.’ It is important therefore to listen to this story very closely. This is the first thing that John says, even before noting that ‘Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.’— (His Mother Mary also being there.) In fact, Mary plays both a discreet and effective role, since it is she who notices the lack of wine and tells her son of it. She implicitly asks him to do something about it. This is really extraordinary faith and confidence, since Jesus had not yet performed any sign! She did not take as a refusal her son’s strange response: ‘My hour has not yet come.’ She simply said to the servants ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ What a wonderful intuition of faith. Mary knew that Jesus could not be insensible to the distress of those who had invited him and his disciples; that he wouldn’t allow the feast to be ruined by a lack of wine. But, more importantly, she must have seen that her son’s presence at the wedding feast had some meaning with respect to his mission.

In any case, John was aware of it, since he had seen the water changed into wine. Also, he was, from this moment on, conscious of Mary’s place in the economy of salvation. 

The Fourth Gospel contains no details of Jesus’ birth; up till this point, nothing has been said about Mary. And behold, she appears just at the moment of the ‘first sign’ worked by Jesus! We are accustomed to address Mary as ‘Mother of the Saviour,’ ‘Mother of God.’ These titles do express her supreme and unique status. John points up her role at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry: she introduced, so to speak, her son —the Son of God — to the sight of all by giving him the first chance to manifest his glory, to accomplish the ‘first sign’ of salvation. It is important not to misunderstand Jesus’ seemingly irritable, even wearied response: ‘Woman why turn to me? My hour has not yet come.’ Or rather ‘Woman, how does your concern affect me?. What hasn’t been said about this incident! Especially that Mary, far from letting herself be rebuked, pursued her purpose by speaking to the disciples as if Jesus had agreed to her request, effectively forcing his hand. Consequently, Marian piety can find tremendous warrant; the power of Mary’s intercession has been limitless since Cana. However legitimate this piety may be, John is not speaking of Mary as intercessor. 

The Fourth Gospel mentions Mary on only two occasions: here at Cana and at the foot of the cross. In both cases, Jesus addresses her as ‘Woman,’ a rather unusual thing for a son to call his mother, but which does not, in itself, contain any nuance of disrespect. At Calvary, it has a solemn character. At this final moment, Jesus proclaimed the singular role of Mary. Whether John saw it as such or not, the Christian today will readily, and quite rightly, regard the appellation ‘Woman’ as recalling the first woman. The man called her ‘Eve, because she became the mother of all the living.’ Mary is such in a very different sense: the woman whose child would crush the head of the one who caused the fall of the first Eve.

In the fourth Gospel, the ‘hour of Jesus’ always has to do with the plan of God, which is accomplished by the Son in fulfilling the will of the Father. In its primary sense, this ‘hour’ is that of Jesus’ Passover, when ‘all is finished,’ when, because of Jesus’ glorification, the Spirit is given to those who believe in him, when the glory of God and his Christ shines forth.

At Cana, this ‘hour has not yet come.’ And yet, it is ‘the beginning of the signs that Jesus accomplished.’ His glory already is ‘revealed,’ and ‘his disciples began to believe in him.’ By means of these subtle indications, John invites us to contemplate the work and revelation of Jesus in its integrity, from first manifestation to final fulfilment. Mary’s presence at the beginning and end of this uninterrupted course of events has, therefore, great symbolic meaning. Her intervention at Cana expresses the urgency of the people of the new era, who are impatient to see Christ’ glory. Standing at the foot of the cross, she is the symbol of the Church, which recognises, in the crucified Christ, the Son glorified by the Father, and adores him in silence. This woman thus appears as the perfect model of the believer: ‘Blessed are you who believed!’ ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe!’ In order to attain the fullness of faith, one must become, in some fashion, like John at Calvary, the ‘son’ of this mother of believers.

As we know, in response to Mary’s intervention at Cana, Jesus caused to be filled with water ‘six stone water jars there for the Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons.’…..’Draw some out now and bring it to the steward.’ It was now wine of excellent quality, better even than what had been served up to that point. Everything about the scene is remarkable. First of all, there was a simplicity with which the miracle took place. Jesus merely gave the servants an order that must have been incomprehensible but easy enough to fulfil. One might wonder why they were not surprised to draw forth wine where they had poured water. No-one seemed to be surprised. Where did this wine come from? The steward never asked. The only remark he made that indicates any surprise is to the bridegroom whom he reproached with having kept back the good wine till that time! The superabundance of the divine gift surpasses all bounds. And then the wines quality is such that the steward found it excessive. But everything has significance here.

In the Bible, wine, because of all that it symbolises, is one of God’s most precious gifts. It ‘gladdens men’s hearts’ (Ps 105:15) and that of God himself. It is a blessing from heaven. On the religious level, wine has special significance. Its lack evokes the great punishments that God reserves for those who offend him. On the other hand, its abundance suggests the joy and happiness of the Messianic age. It is with this biblical perspective that the ‘sign’ of water changed into wine takes on its meaning. The feast at Cana, in which Mary, Jesus, and the disciples were involved, evokes the banquet and the overflowing joy of messianic times. An epiphany of the Messiah. Finally the good wine ‘kept till now’ — is it not that which Jesus, when his hour will come, will make the blood of the new covenant served at the sacramental supper of the eternal wedding banquet? We know that John does not recount the Institution of the Eucharist, but his Gospel is nonetheless the most Eucharistic of the four.

At Cana, ‘Jesus revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.’

To understand the ‘signs’ properly one must start ‘at the beginning,’ at Cana in Galilee, at a wedding feast. ‘Don’t you understand?’ the evangelist says to us ‘surely you see the meaning and importance of this first sign? Re-read the Gospel with an eye to the significance of the wedding feast, the wine, etc., and also what we do in the Eucharist.’

‘When Christ changed the water into wine by his power, the crowd rejoiced, delighting in the taste of this wine. Today, it is at the banquet of the Church that we are all seated, for the wine is changed into the blood of Christ, and we drink it with blessed joy, glorifying the great bridegroom. For the true bridegroom is the son of Mary, the Word from all eternity, who has taken the form of a slave and who created all in his wisdom.’ (Romanus the melodist 5th cent)

The ‘sign’ of Cana is not merely an episode from Jesus’ life, recounting one day when he happened to be invited to a wedding. Rather it is a revelation, here, we have a mystery of faith, i.e. a ‘sign’ that reveals Jesus in his true status — his ‘glory’ — and at the same time demands our involvement along with the disciples who believe in him.

‘Do whatever he tells you.’

‘This was the first of the signs given by Jesus: It was given at Cana in Galilee. He let his glory be seen, and his disciples believed in him.’