Is 62:1-5; Ps 96; 1Cor 12:4-11; Jn 2:1-11

COMMENTARY

The second Sunday in Ordinary Time continues the theme of the Lord’s manifestation, celebrated with the Epiphany and the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.  Today’s Liturgy  invites  us to meditate on the wedding at Cana, which constitutes, together with the visit of the Magi and the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, a triple Epiphany, i.e. revelation / manifestation, of the Lord to the world. Thus says an ancient antiphon, recited during the evening prayer or vespers for the feast of the Epiphany (in the Italian breviary): “Three wonders mark this day we celebrate: / today the star led the Magi to the manger; / today water was changed into wine at the feast of marriage; / today Christ desired to be baptized by John in the river Jordan / to bring us salvation, alleluia.” All these three events are celebrated in a mystical “today,” and they are curiously listed with the wedding at Cana at the center, despite their logical temporal order (first the Magi, then the Baptism, and finally the wedding). This is probably to underline the importance of what happened in Cana. Of the three episodes, only the wedding is explicitly called a revelation/manifestation of the Lord in the Gospel: “Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory.”

Meditating on this great mystery of the wedding at Cana as a continuation of the Epiphany and Baptism, we focus on three “strange” facts to grasp the profound meaning of the event that the Gospel wants to convey to our life. 

1. “They have no wine.” The Mother’s observation introduces us to the first strange fact: the wine was finished at some point during the wedding. How? Why? Obviously, as we know, a marriage in the Jewish culture lasts normally several days, sometimes even a whole week. Nevertheless, the question is always this: Did the wedding organizers not calculate and buy the necessary amount of wine based on the planned days of the wedding and on the number of guests? In this regard, someone can logically assume that the wine was “gone” due to some unexpected guests or some who drank a little too much!

In any case, the lack of wine among the people led Jesus to perform a “sign,” indeed his “first sign”in the Gospel of John. This is what we normally call the miracle of water becoming wine. However, the evangelist regularly and probably intentionally avoids this word, preferring to use “sign” to emphasize that what Jesus did does not aim at creating a “show” to be watched or admired, but intends to stimulate reflection on the significance of what happened, in order to come to the faith in Him. 

Indeed, the lack of wine indicates a different reality. Wine is always a symbol of joy, because it “gladdens their [i.e. people’s] hearts,” as the Psalmist says (cf. Ps 104:15). Therefore, it shows the happiness of life, and so the abundant wine will be a symbol of the overflowing joy and happiness in the messianic age. According to the Jewish tradition, at the end of time, when the expected Messiah comes, the vines will bear many fruits and consequently the wine will flow in every place;mountains, hills, valleys, not to mention rivers! This explains Jesus’ action – a bit exaggerated but highly symbolic – to have all six jars there filled with water, in order to transform all into around720 liters of wine, which could remain even after the feast. It is a kind of multiplication of wine, almost in parallel with the multiplication of bread afterwards! 

Jesus appears, therefore, as the Messiah who inaugurated the messianic time with the sign of the abundance of wine. He came to give not only life, but also life in abundance. The mission of God made flesh for us is not simply to offer redemption, but abundance of redemption, because “Copiosa apud eum redemptio” (“with him is plenteous redemption”), as mentioned in Psalm 130, recited in the second Vespers of Christmas (cf. Ps 130:7). As God promised: “my people shall be filled with my blessings” (Jer 31:14), Jesus, the one sent by God the Father, in his mission to bring salvation and divine happiness to humanity, is never satisfied to give only what is essential. Rather,he gives everything possible, all of himself, indeed, offering more and more every day, always abounding in action, in love, and in self-giving. The zeal of God’s prophet that we have heard in the first reading (and, if you remember, in one of the four Christmas Masses) is truly fulfilled in the person of Jesus: “For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, / for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, / until her vindication shines forth like the dawn / and her victory like a burning torch.” The missionary of God will never rest. Never. He goes always further and farther!

Therefore, although even a single drop of his blood would be enough to save the world, as the great Doctor of the Church Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches us in the famous Eucharistic hymn Adoro TeDevote, Jesus shed his precious blood in abundance, all his blood, until the end of life and even after death (cf. Jn 19:34)! This will be the fulfillment of the abundance of the wine at Cana, which will remain not only after that memorable wedding, but mystically also for eternity. Whoever drinks this “wine,” offered by Him, lives forever, as He says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life”! (Jn 6:54). That is to say, that one enjoys joy and happiness always in abundance! He declared, indeed, on another occasion, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10,10).

The above thought would be enough for today’s reflection, or even for the whole week, until next Sunday. Nonetheless, in the sign of abundance, I will continue to write on the other two equally important points from the Mass readings. (I apologize to the readers and especially to the translators, whom I thank for their understanding and hard work.)

2. The true bridegroom of the wedding. From the reprimand of the headwaiter to the bridegroom, we can see the bridegroom has the honor and duty of offering wine to the guests, and preferablyalways good wine. Then, with the lack of wine, the bridegroom in the story has failed in his task, while Jesus appears as the one who offers the wine. The literal bridegroom has ceased to be such, while Jesus emerges as the true bridegroom of the wedding. In this perspective, the feast of marriage “at that time” at Cana in Galilee goes beyond its geographical and temporal limits to become the image of the mystical wedding between God and his people at the end of time. This has been the long-awaited event, foretold by the prophets, especially by Hosea and Isaiah, as the first reading reminds us: “For the LORD delights in you [Jerusalem] and makes your land his spouse. […] as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so shall your God rejoice in you.”

3. The “invisible” bride and the “friends” of the Bridegroom. The spiritual interpretation above helps us to resolve the third strange fact regarding the bride, never mentioned in the story. This is so, simply because if the true Bridegroom of the wedding is Jesus, God made flesh, there is no need to talk about the physical bride, but only about the true Bride who is the People whom God loved and continues to love in spite of all her infidelities and hard-heartedness. What happened in Cana of Galilee marks the beginning of the wedding time, which will reach its peak, when his hour comes, that is, the hour of his passion, death, and resurrection. That hour will also be the moment of the full manifestation of his glory, which began to manifest itself in Cana. This tight connection between the two events in John’s Gospel appears clear from the exclusive presence of “his Mother” in one (at Cana) and in the other episode (under the Cross); in both Jesus always addresses her with the formal title “Woman,” to mark the solemn moment and the importance of the person. By the way, it should be clarified that what Jesus said to his Mother “My hour has not yet come,” remains true even after the miracle, because this affirmation will occur again later (cf. Jn 7:30; 8:20), until the moment of the passion (cf. Jn 13:1). What Jesus did does not mean that He had to anticipate his hour at the Mother’s request. It only marks, as underlined, the “official” beginning of the era of the fulfillment of the divine wedding. 

From that beginning, the mission for which the Father sent his Son begins: to gather all the scattered children of God into the community of the faithful, whose seed was precisely the group of his first disciples who “believed in him.” They were the “true” guests of the wedding, those of Jesus, the true Bridegroom, who called them his “friends” (cf. Jn 15:13-15). Thus, they shared in the joy of their Lord and Master, sharing the same excellent wine offered by him and, consequently, the same life and the same Spirit! Jesus made them his missionaries, “the sent ones,” who wouldcontinue the same mission of their Master, pursuing the works started by him.

About them, Jesus said, “You will do greater things than me!” And so it will be, not because of their skill, ability, and intelligence (“no disciple is greater than his master”, cf. Jn 13:16; 15:20), but simply because they remain in Him and He in them, as He said: “without me you can do nothing,” and exhorted them, “Remain in me” (cf. Jn 15:4-5). Remaining in Jesus means concretely abiding in his Word, in his love, and in his Spirit. This will be essential for the missionary disciples to continue his mission “in a great way,” that is to say, to do the same works as Jesus and even“greater” ones, even more abundant, more innovative, and more suitable for ever-changing life circumstances. Their works will therefore be manifold, diversified, but always inspired by the same Spirit – the Spirit of Jesus – or, to dare a word play, inspired by the same wine (spiritus!) Jesus offered them to drink! This is what St. Paul appropriately reminded us in the second reading: “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. […] But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.”

Therefore, let us always drink the wine of Jesus, with joy and gratitude for the various “effects” that it works in us and through us for mission! We thank the Lord for the gift of the messianic wine as well as for all the “missionary friends” of the Bridegroom Jesus, such as the founder of our Pontifical Missionary Union, Blessed Paolo Manna, whose liturgical memorial is celebrated on January 16th, on his 153rd birthday. These are faithful disciples, who, “drenched” in the divine wine, have continued God’s mission through the centuries, generously inviting everyone to the joy of the divine wedding. May we feel inspired by their example and by the wine-Spirit itself to continue with generosity and creativity the messianic works Jesus inaugurated at the mystical wedding at Cana in Galilee! May Mary, His mother and ours, intercede for us on this wonderful missionary journey until the end of time!

Useful points to consider:

“The words ‘to the ends of the earth’ should challenge the disciples of Jesus in every age and impel them to press beyond familiar places in bearing witness to him. For all the benefits of modern travel, there are still geographical areas in which missionary witnesses of Christ have not arrived to bring the Good News of his love. Then too no human reality is foreign to the concern of the disciples of Jesus in their mission. Christ’s Church will continue to “go forth” towards new geographical, social and existential horizons, towards “borderline” places and human situations, in order to bear witness to Christ and his love to men and women of every people, culture and social status.  In this sense, the mission will always be a missio ad gentes, as the Second Vatican Council taught. The Church must constantly keep pressing forward, beyond her own confines, in order to testify to all the love of Christ. Here I would like to remember and express my gratitude for all those many missionaries who gave their lives in order to “press on” in incarnating Christ’s love towards all the brothers and sisters whom they met.” (Pope Francis, Message for World Mission Sunday 2022“You shall be my witnesses” [Acts 1:8].)