Reflection on the Readings for 19 Jan 2025:
Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 95(96):1-3,7-10; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-11
We have entered into the Jubilee Year which Pope Francis dedicated to the theme of Hope.
Today’s Scriptures are reflecting this theme and fit so well to the New Year.
Never give up. With God’s help, desperate situations will get better. From being “forsaken” we will be God’s “delight”. What a prospect!
The wedding of a young couple is a sign of hope and of fruitfulness.
The Psalm reiterates the importance to put our trust in God: Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples. Power, glory and kingship belong to God.
In his Letter to the Corinthians, Paul draws our attention to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings gifts to all of us – and as we are not all the same, these gifts are also not the same.
God knew us before we were born, and the Holy Spirit knows us, too. One Spirit but many gifts….
The story about the wedding feast in Cana is a special “delight”, to use the expression from Isaiah. A feast of joy and hope, a presumably young couple on the verge of starting a family.
However, this celebration is about to become an embarrassment. The organisers didn’t provide enough wine for the guests. Mary, the mother of Jesus, recognises the situation and acts. It reminds us of her hearing about Elizabeth’s pregnancy and immediately going to see her. Mary then acted “in haste”.
Here, her action consists in initiating Jesus’ first miracle. She doesn’t wait until Jesus would help out. She draws his attention to the fact that the wedding couple was missing something to have a good start into their new life. If they don’t have enough wine, they would carry this embarrassment into their future. Despite of this, it seems like Jesus has no intention to act. Maybe he didn’t see the looming embarrassment? Maybe he didn’t want to interfere in a situation that was caused by human miscalculation?
Mary, the mother of Jesus, as she is called by John, doesn’t tell Jesus what to do. She just tells him the fact that they don’t have wine. Jesus’ response sounds almost unfriendly: “My hour has not yet come”. What does it mean? Is he referring to his crucifixion?
Mary doesn’t give up. She puts her hope and trust in God and in her son Jesus. Her command to the servants leaves it up to Jesus to act – and he does.
Jesus performs his first miracle. It is a different miracle to the other miracles he performed later. It is not a physical or mental healing of a suffering person but a transformation. This first miracles happens in Galilee, in his home area of which he would later say that it was difficult to be a prophet in ones home town.
By transforming water to wine, Jesus started his ministry. John the Baptist had prepared him through the baptism with water. John the Baptist announced the one who would come and baptise with the Holy Spirit. Baptism with water. Baptism with the Holy Spirit.
The first miracle is a miracle with water.
The water jars that were to be used for cleansing become the recipient of nourishing, delicious wine.
Through the love of God and through the trust in God, the content of these jars is transformed.
If we consider ourselves as vessels of God – how can we transform our “content”? How can we use our skills and live our lives in a way that pleases God and others around us?
God will decide when our hour has come and how we will be able to transform ourselves into the person, but we need to listen to the voices around us. Otherwise, we might overhear the voices telling us of a need, and realising that others put their trust in us that we might act with the skills and talents we have received.
BM
