The wedding theme prompts a story about a long-married couple. The husband would shout: "When I die, I will dig my way out of the grave and haunt you!" After he died, neighbors asked the wife: "Aren't you afraid he'll dig his way out?" She replied, "No. I had him buried upside down. And he never asks for directions."
Monday brings a triple-header, so to speak. Ohio State faces Notre Dame. And it’s Inauguration Day of President Trump. And Monday’s annual holiday celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.
In nonviolent efforts for unity, Rev. King often invoked scripture. King’s 1963 speech “I Have a Dream” imagines brotherhood from sea to shining sea. That dream is as essential today as it was then.
During this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we remember Jesus prayed, “That they may all be one.” While two billion plus Christians today profess one Lord, one faith, one baptism, many are divided by traditions, e.g., Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant. Let us pray this week that Christians will overcome division and by God’s grace work together so that all may be one.
The green chasuble I wear symbolizes renewal, hope, growth in our life with God. This season is known as "ordinary time." Yet today's Gospel is a sort of third epiphany: a triplet with the Magi and the Baptism. God at Cana reveals through signs and wonders who Jesus truly is: the Word who became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
The word of God first takes us back to the sixth century before Jesus. Once known as the City of Lights, Jerusalem is described here as “desolate” and “forsaken" because Babylonia reduced the city to rubble. But one day, the author writes, Jerusalem will rise up, and God will again delight in Jerusalem and its people. Does God delight in our attitudes and behaviors? Do we reveal the presence of God to others through our actions?
St. Paul’s letter to the Christian community at Corinth notes the many gifts we have are for the common good, for building up community. Yes, people working together magnify each other’s efforts and abilities.
In the Gospel, the author begins the so-called Book of Signs: seven signs Jesus works that reveal his true identity. Jesus is one with the triune God. Jesus is completely divine yet completely human.
Cana is in the region of Galilee. Jesus, his mother and the disciples are invited to a wedding. On one level of the narrative, Mary could be like a wedding planner. There’s a shortage of wine. Mary may have said to the waiters something like, “That’s my son. Do what he says.”
On another level, Mary appears as our mediator, interceding for us with her son. On a third level, the water-made-wine symbolizes the breaking in of the kingdom of God—the symbolic wedding banquet at the end-time. On still another level, the author points to Jesus as “the revelation” of God to us.
The point I want to make is this: there can be many levels of meaning in the inspired word of the bible. So read the scriptures slowly and meditatively to discover the ways in which God may be speaking to you about the fundamental questions of life.
In light of the wedding at Cana, I would like to reflect briefly upon the sacrament of marriage.
Often people look for perfection. Life generally is not perfect and we have to simply do the best we can. Marriage is a work in progress: first the honeymoon; then some disillusionment (i.e., he/she is not precisely who I thought); and then a third stage, where the partnership can either break or become a covenant where husband and wife live for each other, for God, and for others e.g., their children.
True love can emerge only if we compliment each other and accentuate the good, if we clarify essential values, if we communicate regularly, if we work out compromises, and if we forgive.
When sorting through a disagreement, distinguish between behavior and judgments—for example, you’re late (behavior) versus you’re the most inconsiderate person I know (judgment). Maybe there was an accident or unavoidable delay. Yes, communicate.
Strive to achieve a balance between work, family, and personal time. As with most things in life, we must work at relationships, stick together in tough times, trust that things will get better and we’ll reemerge closer. Above all, make room for God.
Married couples might ask, how can I keep the initial glow alive? Yes, with the friend, soulmate and partner for whom I live, with whom I laugh, the one I love above all else on earth, how can we continue to cherish and support and re-energize our relationship?
The wedding at Cana invites all of us to reflect upon our relationships, and to look out for one another. As the song goes, "what the world needs now is love." Amen.
