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When we can’t go on any longer | Gospel of January 19

By 15 January, 2025No Comments


Gospel according to Saint John 2:1-12:

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from — although the servers who had drawn the water knew —, the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.”

Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.

When we can’t go on any longer

Luis CASASUS President of the Idente Missionaries

Rome, January 12, 2025 | II Sunday in the Ordinary Time.

Is 62: 1-5; 1Cor 12: 5-11; Jn 2: 1-12

With regard to the miracle reported today in the Gospel, the conversion of water into wine, Benedict XVI comments in his famous book:

What sense can there be in Jesus providing a large quantity of wine – some 520 liters – for a private party (Jesus of Nazareth).

Certainly, it is something so unique and striking that it can distract us from its spiritual significance, beyond the obvious joy and relief it produced in the new and astonished spouses.

What can it mean for us today?

First, before going into the details, it is a scene that takes place in an unpredictable setting. It was not the Temple, nor a time when Jesus was speaking to the crowds, nor in an apostolic mission planned by Christ. As the Gospel seems to suggest, the chief guest was Mary and that “Jesus was also invited to the wedding,” which he attended with his disciples.

We have just celebrated Christmas, where Christ surprises us by appearing in a manger, and now he begins his public mission at a society party, at a wedding where probably more than one of us overindulged in alcohol, to which the appearance of those 520 liters of excellent wine probably contributed.

We cannot think that his way of acting will change. Undoubtedly, today He also presents Himself to us at times we did not expect, in a not very predictable way, but always with the desire to communicate to us something essential, indispensable for our mission. As at Cana, He will act when our strength is exhausted, when we feel powerless to think and speak, when He is certain that we wish to collaborate with our humble witness.

Let us remember that, in the Bible, the wedding is an image of God’s union with his people, of his covenant, which he respects in spite of our clumsiness or our unfaithfulness. This miracle shows us an example of how the Divine Persons accompany us in the midst of difficulty; particularly on this occasion, bringing joy, the joy that is represented in the wine. In the Old Testament water was turned into blood (Ex 7:19), indicating judgment. But Christ turned water into wine, which speaks of grace and joy.

—ooOoo—

I would like to share a little anecdote, from a few days ago, to illustrate how God indeed makes himself present where and when we do not expect it, thus increasing our hope and perseverance in the apostolic life.

I received an email from a person named Pachi. I did not remember who he might be…nor do I remember him yet, in spite of the photo he sent me. He explained how we had met more than 50 years ago and his only wish was to ask forgiveness for not saying thank you after attending a small spiritual retreat organized by our community. According to him, he left in haste after the retreat because he did not want God to interrupt his personal plans.

But, the reality is that God stayed in his heart and I am sure that he is making him understand how God has accompanied him all these years, especially in many moments shared with those who loved him, experiences that he can now value and appreciate.

We cannot always imagine what Providence is working in the heart of the person next to us, especially in someone who gives me the impression of being not very sensitive or not very cultivated.

We do not always realize that the Divine Persons are taking advantage of a wedding, an illness, dreams, our sins, our works of piety, our joy…to manifest themselves. To remind us of our poor sensitivity, the Gospel describes the reaction of many people: Look, a gluttonous man and a wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners (Mt 11: 19).

The important result of this miracle is not that the problem of wine shortage was solved, but what the Gospel text tells us: Thus he manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in Him.

—ooOoo—

Mary gives us a lesson on how to live what today we call the Spirit of the Gospel. She did not limit herself to feeling pity for the troubled bride and groom, but the first thing she does is to turn to Christ. She could not know what would be the response of her Son, who seems to refuse to intervene; Mary does not suggest anything to him, she simply confides her feelings to him, she puts herself in his hands. The consequence is that Jesus acts. In an unpredictable but guaranteed way, Providence gives us an answer that is not only a truth, but a solution, the solution to our anguish.

In this connection, I am reminded of a short story by Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) entitled A Day in the Country. The story is about a shoemaker named Terenty and how he cares for two orphaned children.

At the beginning of the story, six-year-old Fyokla comes running into town. People are preparing for an impending storm. She finds Terenty in the orchard. He is a “tall old man, with a thin pockmarked face, very long legs and bare feet.” He doesn’t look like a hero. But Fyokla is desperately looking for someone to help him free her little brother Danilka, whose hand had been caught in a tree.

Terenty gives no importance to the coming storm and speaking calmly, in a fatherly tone, goes to free Fyokla’s brother. The story tells us that Terenty answers all questions, and there is no secret in Nature that baffles him. He knows everything. The writer further adds that, indeed, all villagers, in general, know as much as he does. But the difference is that Terenty is willing to share his knowledge and his time with the two orphan children. The children adore him and spend the day with Terenty. The old man returns later and places bread under their heads making the sign of the cross while they sleep. He is truly a source of peace.

Why do we say that Mary is demonstrating an exquisite Spirit of the Gospel? Because it implies the absence of any reservation in our mind regarding the Gospel. Evidently, this possible reservation is NOT of a merely rational character, as it would be to think that there is an error in Christ’s conduct. The Spirit of the Gospel refers to our unitive faculty: Mary did not know what Christ was going to do, or if He was going to do anything at all, but she has recourse to Him anyway, she unites herself to Him with such conviction that she is able to say to the servants: Do whatever He tells you.

Although Jesus declares that “his hour has not yet come,” that is, the moment to show his glory, that is, to give his life on the Cross, he allows himself to be moved by the suffering of his neighbor, as he would later do so many times in the face of sickness, ignorance or hunger. We cannot suspect what the divine response will be when we turn to him: a cure, a conversion, peace, forgiveness….

What is clear is that Mary remains attentive to Jesus from this first moment of his public life until the final hour on the Cross, when his hour truly arrived, the hour of his glory. In this way, Mary shows us that it is always God’s will that we collaborate in every miracle He performs, in every simple act of concern and mercy for our neighbor.

A missionary living in Southern Africa told this story about his effort to imitate Mary. One day, he was traveling by train. He was praying with his Bible, and in it he had an image of Our Mother Mary. An African who was next to him stared at this image. Very curious, with the kind spontaneity of his culture, he interrupted the prayer of the missionary and asked him: Who is this, your sister?

No, answered the missionary.

Your fiancée? asked the traveler.

No, answered the missionary.

Who is she? finally asked the man.

My mother, answered the missionary.

The African man looked at the image and with conviction said: You don’t look like her at all.

The missionary reflected on those words: What did he lack to be like Mary? Perhaps it was – he thought – not putting his faith and prayer into practice continuously, following Mary’s example, who always went beyond what he could comprehend.

—ooOoo—

Throughout his Gospel, John never wrote an unnecessary or insignificant detail. Everything means something and everything points beyond. There were six jars of stone and, according to the Jews, seven is the complete number and is perfect; and six is the number that represents the unfinished and imperfect. So the six stone jars represent all the imperfections of the guests, of each one of us.

Jesus turned the imperfection of the law, of our poor moral standards, into the perfection of grace.

The water turned into wine is an enormous quantity, which we do not need to know exactly. John did not intend the story to be taken with crude literalism. What John meant is that when the grace of Jesus comes to men, there is enough and to spare for all. No wedding feast on earth could drink all that wine. No need in our life can exhaust the grace of Christ; there is always in it a glorious superabundance. My grace is sufficient for you (2 Cor. 12:9).

_______________________________

In the Sacred Hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

Luis CASASUS

President