Second Sunday In Ordinary Time – Year C
January 17, 2016
- Many of us enjoy a drink and, at this time of the year, to share a party.
- So the gospel today is very earthy and in touch with life.
- It has Jesus and Mary together at a wedding celebration.
- It reminds me that there should be time for celebration in life; so that everything does not become too serious.
- This party gives the impression of being a happy affair, unlike the stiff and formal occasions that we are sometimes obliged to attend.
- Fredrick Nietzsche once said of Christians: “You believe that you are saved, why don’t you look like it!”
- Its true of some Christian events; they can be formal and, the presence of clergy, does not always help.
- Mary is the one who seizes the moment in the gospel story of the wedding at Cana. She is quick to notice that the bar is running low. In reference to Jesus she spontaneously asks for help.
- Some might argue that Mary sees some unique power in Jesus and a reluctance to parade it in public. But that suggests more than the story actually tells us.
- It seems more like a case of party rules, where spontaneity wins out and the request of the Mother is granted.
- In any case, there is nothing mean about Jesus’ response; there is plenty of wine from water and it’s a top vintage.
- No doubt, for the writer, this miracle links with later references to God’s Kingdom as a banquet, both abundant and excessive.
- This is a miracle about the Divine abundance; the excess of love and grace that comes from God, in and through Jesus.
- Through Jesus extraordinary gifts are given. As Isaiah says it well: “the Lord of Hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and pure, choice wine.”
- Its easy to forget the faith and hope that we once had when life becomes less than we expected.
- But we would not move on in life without some expectation of life.
- Taking a new job; changing careers; moving abroad and taking responsibility are all built on expectation.
- We trust in God’s grace and dismiss the disappointments. There is always a next time!
- God often keeps the best wine till last.
- The miracle at Cana is a story. Part of the Good News of our salvation.
- We cannot escape the reference to the Eucharist in the water and wine.
- It is the wine that will be drunk on the Heavenly Kingdom.
- The wine flows as part of the image of the blood of Jesus. Just as wine takes away sorrow; so the Blood of Jesus takes away sin.
- This not mere poetry but life over death; joy over sadness and love over law.
- As Christians we find joy in this imagery. We defeat sadness with joy; anxiety with peace.
- If the gospel cannot give us freedom and liberation then it cannot be the gospel.
- In Cana we are part of a celebration of life that suggests life over death and hope over despair.
- We should not allow the petty ways of life hijack this joy from Christian life.
Many of us enjoy a drink and, at this time of the year, to share a party.
- So the gospel today is very earthy and in touch with life.
- It has Jesus and Mary together at a wedding celebration.
- It reminds me that there should be time for celebration in life; so that everything does not become too serious.
- This party gives the impression of being a happy affair, unlike the stiff and formal occasions that we are sometimes obliged to attend.
- Fredrick Nietzsche once said of Christians: “You believe that you are saved, why don’t you look like it!”
- Its true of some Christian events; they can be formal and, the presence of clergy, does not always help.
- Mary is the one who seizes the moment in the gospel story of the wedding at Cana. She is quick to notice that the bar is running low. In reference to Jesus she spontaneously asks for help.
- Some might argue that Mary sees some unique power in Jesus and a reluctance to parade it in public. But that suggests more than the story actually tells us.
- It seems more like a case of party rules, where spontaneity wins out and the request of the Mother is granted.
- In any case, there is nothing mean about Jesus’ response; there is plenty of wine from water and it’s a top vintage.
- No doubt, for the writer, this miracle links with later references to God’s Kingdom as a banquet, both abundant and excessive.
- This is a miracle about the Divine abundance; the excess of love and grace that comes from God, in and through Jesus.
- Through Jesus extraordinary gifts are given. As Isaiah says it well: “the Lord of Hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and pure, choice wine.”
- Its easy to forget the faith and hope that we once had when life becomes less than we expected.
- But we would not move on in life without some expectation of life.
- Taking a new job; changing careers; moving abroad and taking responsibility are all built on expectation.
- We trust in God’s grace and dismiss the disappointments. There is always a next time!
- God often keeps the best wine till last.
- The miracle at Cana is a story. Part of the Good News of our salvation.
- We cannot escape the reference to the Eucharist in the water and wine.
- It is the wine that will be drunk on the Heavenly Kingdom.
- The wine flows as part of the image of the blood of Jesus. Just as wine takes away sorrow; so the Blood of Jesus takes away sin.
- This not mere poetry but life over death; joy over sadness and love over law.
- As Christians we find joy in this imagery. We defeat sadness with joy; anxiety with peace.
- If the gospel cannot give us freedom and liberation then it cannot be the gospel.
- In Cana we are part of a celebration of life that suggests life over death and hope over despair.
- We should not allow the petty ways of life hijack this joy from Christian life.