Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C

John 2:1 - 11

I had an uncle who noticed things.  He was a farmer and I guess that helped; you need to be aware of changes in prices of wheat and livestock; you need to have a sense of what the weather is going to do; you have to be sensitive to animal behavior because animals can get sick.  But he noticed people as well.  He had a sixth sense about you; he wouldn’t ask how you were feeling, he’d say, “You're feeling bad today, aren't you?” and he’d be right.  He belonged to a local farmer’s coop and was famous for pointing out things no one else had noticed.  Some people just notice things.  And I think Mary was like that. 

Weddings in those days took several days and during a wedding, everything came to a halt for a big party.  In the little villages of Galilee, there might be a wedding every few years, and the whole town expected that no expense would be spared.  And you didn’t run out of wine -- that would lead to social death, and a subject of gossip for a long time.  And that’s what Mary noticed.  Not Jesus, not the apostles, not any of the wedding guests.  Mary noticed.

And Mary did something about it.  She has known Jesus for all his life, all thirty years.  We know almost nothing about those years -- except that people didn’t expect much -- when he began his preaching ministry, they reacted with disbelief: “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?” they said.  I doubt that Jesus worked any miracles in those first thirty years.  And I wonder about Mary.  Obviously, she remembered the events surrounding his birth, and when he got lost in Jerusalem.  Like any mother, I'm sure she thought Jesus was special.  But I don’t think she expected a miracle.  She just took the problem to Jesus.  That’s kind of an example for us as well.  Some of us, myself included, tend to ask God for specific things in our prayer.  We like to help him out so he doesn’t have to guess what we need.  But Mary shows us how to pray - “Son”, she says, “They have no wine.” Maybe that’s how we should pray -- dump the problem in God’s lap and wait for him to respond the way he wants to.  After all, that would by definition be the best for us.

Even after I’ve heard this story over and over, it’s still a shock when Jesus turns to her and says, “Woman, how does your concern affect me?  My hour has not yet come.”  People have tried to soften Jesus’ words -- in some translations, Woman is translated as “Lady” which seems more respectful, perhaps.  Or as some tell us, “Woman” was actually a respectful way to address a lady in those days.  But none of us can imagine addressing our mothers in this way, and that’s true in other languages.  Unless we are really mad, we call her Mom, or at least “Mother”.  So I think Jesus, who is like us in all things but sin, really meant what he said -- “Don’t bother me, This isn’t the place for me to begin my ministry.” 

But Mary persists.  Mother Teresa once asked a businessman for a contribution to her work.  He replied that things were tough and maybe another time.  When he finished his day he walked into his waiting room and saw her sitting there.  She looked at him and said, “This is another time.”  She got the contribution.  Mary does not give up.  She figures that the embarrassment to the young couple was much worse than Jesus beginning his ministry at a time he chose.  And so she gets the help together and tells them, “Do whatever he tells you.”  Now I’m pretty sure that she didn’t say it once. She pushed and prodded and kept it up till they gave up and went over to Jesus.  I can see the servants standing there saying “What do you want us to do?”  And Mary is off to one side smiling.  

Jesus tells them to fill the jugs with water.  This is not as simple as it seems.  Each holds a lot of water.  If you’ve been to the grocery store you’ve seen those Arizona tea containers -- that’s about a gallon.  The servants, in addition to everything else they are doing, have to go back and forth to the town’s well to get about 150 of those jugs full of water and emptied into the six stone water jars.  That’s a lot of work.  In fact, I wonder if Jesus gave them this task to shut them up -- after all, his hour had not yet come.  But I imagine Mary is still pushing -- “Do whatever he tells you to do!”  And in the end the servants do just that.  

Finally Jesus gives up.  At this point the miracle occurs and his hour, his march to his passion and death, begins.  Now we could comment on the abundance of good wine, and how it’s a symbol of the kingdom Jesus is ushering in, a kingdom where there will be nothing lacking, where there will be more than enough for everyone to satisfy every need, every longing.  We could talk about the significance of the number of jars -- six, how there were six days during which God created the world, and he rested on the seventh.  

But maybe the lesson for today is to be like Mary -- to notice when there is something lacking - in our lives, in the lives of our loved ones -- and to bring that need to God.  And then to wait in expectation, doing whatever he tells us, what he tells us through our Church, through our conscience, through the circumstances of our lives.  And to persist in our prayer.  And to trust.  Because we know that the best wine will be coming.