Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

JOHN 2:1-11

SEVERAL YEARS AGO JOHNNY CARSON HAD AN EIGHT YEAR OLD BOY ON HIS SHOW. THE BOY HAD SAVED A FEW LIVES, AND IN THE COURSE OF THE CONVERSATION, HE TOLD MR. CARSON THAT HE WAS A CHRISTIAN. JOHNNY ASKED HIM WHETHER HE WENT TO SUNDAY SCHOOL. HE REPLIED THAT HE DID. HE ASKED HIM WHAT THEY HAD TALKED ABOUT. HE TOLD THEM THEY HAD DISCUSSED THE STORY OF THE WEDDING FEAST AT CANA. THEN JOHNNY ASKED HIM WHAT LESSON HE LEARNED FROM THAT. THE BOY THOUGHT FOR A FEW SECONDS, AND REPLIED, “IF YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A WEDDING, YOU HAD BETTER INVITE JESUS.”

JOHN'S GOSPEL IS VERY RICH; YOU CAN FIND LAYERS AND LAYERS OF MEANING PRACTICALLY EVERYWHERE YOU TURN. IT REALLY IS A WORK OF GENIUS, OR MORE LIKELY, INSPIRATION. AND WE COULD TALK ABOUT THE MEANING OF THE SIX WATER JUGS, OR ABOUT MARRIAGE, OR ABOUT JESUS' RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS MOTHER, AND WHAT HIS STRANGE STATEMENT TO HER MEANT. BELIEVE ME, THERE HAS BEEN A LOT WRITTEN ABOUT THIS GOSPEL PASSAGE.

BUT WE CAN'T TALK ABOUT EVERYTHING.

DID YOU EVER NOTICE HOW THE MIRACLES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT ARE GENERALLY PRETTY SPECTACULAR – PARTING THE RED SEA, HAVING THE SUN STAND STILL, HAVING LIGHTNING CONSUME ELIJAH'S SACRIFICE, SOAKED IN WATER, ALTAR STONES AND ALL, IN FRONT OF A HUGE CROWD. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, NOT SO MUCH. WE HAVE THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND, WE HAVE RAISING LAZARUS; BUT MOST OF THE TIME THE MIRACLES OF JESUS ARE KIND OF QUIET, LIKE THIS ONE. IT SAYS THAT THE SERVANTS NOTICED, BUT THE STEWARD, THE ONE WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO NOTICE EVERYTHING, THE ONE WHO SHOULD HAVE MADE SURE THERE WAS ENOUGH WINE IN THE FIRST PLACE – HE DIDN'T NOTICE. AND WE CAN PRESUME FROM THE CONVERSATION THAT THE BRIDE AND GROOM, AND PROBABLY ALL THE WEDDING GUESTS EXCEPT THE APOSTLES, DIDN'T NOTICE. EVERYONE WAS HAVING A GREAT TIME AND IT APPEARS FROM THE STORY WE JUST HEARD THAT A LOT OF THE GUESTS WERE A LITTLE LOOPY BY THE TIME THE GOOD WINE THAT JESUS HAD MADE WAS SERVED.

AND LOOK AT THE SITUATION. IT ISN'T A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION; IT'S JUST A COUNTRY WEDDING, AND THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN IS THAT THE COUPLE WOULD HAVE TO LIVE DOWN SOME EMBARRASSMENT BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T PLAN AS WELL AS THEY SHOULD HAVE.

WHEN WE COME TO MASS, WE OFTEN SAY LOFTY PRAYERS; WE PRAY FOR PEACE IN THE WORLD, WE PRAY THAT OUR POLITICAL LEADERS WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON THE POOR; WE PRAY THAT ALL PEOPLE WILL RECOGNIZE JESUS AS LORD AND SAVIOR. BUT WHAT WE PRAY FOR PUBLICLY ON SUNDAY IS CERTAINLY NOT WHAT WE THINK ABOUT MOST OF THE TIME. WE THINK ABOUT OUR HOMEWORK OR OUR NEXT GAME OF SOCCER OR BASKETBALL; WE THINK ABOUT THE NFL PLAYOFFS; ABOUT WHAT WE ARE GOING TO PREPARE FOR SUPPER; ABOUT THAT NEW ACHE OR PAIN THAT WE HADN'T NOTICED BEFORE. WE THINK ABOUT LITTLE THINGS, THINGS THAT DON'T MEAN MUCH ON A COSMIC SCALE; THINGS LIKE WHETHER WE WILL HAVE ENOUGH WINE ON HAND FOR OUR WEDDING GUESTS.

THERE ARE TWO THINGS TO NOTICE HERE. FIRST, JESUS CARES ABOUT THESE LITTLE THINGS. HE CHOSE TO WORK HIS FIRST MIRACLE – AND JOHN CALLS THEM “SIGNS” – AT A WEDDING IN A LITTLE TOWN AT A TIME WHEN VERY FEW PEOPLE EVEN NOTICED. AND HE WORKED THE MIRACLE TO SAVE A YOUNG COUPLE FROM EMBARRASSMENT OR PERHAPS, TO KEEP THE PARTY GOING. THE YOUNG COUPLE GETTING MARRIED WOULD LOOK BACK ON THIS DAY, AND SAY, WHAT A WONDERFUL WEDDING WE HAD! JESUS WORKED HIS FIRST MIRACLE BECAUSE HE LOVED THEM, HE WANTED THEM TO BE HAPPY, AND HE WANTED THE WEDDING GUESTS TO BE HAPPY.

THE SECOND POINT IS THAT MARY SEEMS TO HAVE GOTTEN HIM TO CHANGE HIS MIND. HIS INITIAL RESPONSE WAS NEGATIVE – “WHAT DOES ALL THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ME, WOMAN? MY HOUR HASN'T COME.” JESUS “HOUR” MOST SCHOLARS THINK, REFERS TO HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS, THE MOMENT WHEN HE OFFERS HIMSELF TO THE FATHER, ACCEPTING THE PUNISHMENT FOR SINS THAT WE DESERVE. BUT MARY SAYS, “THIS YOUNG COUPLE'S PROBLEM IS ALSO WORTH YOUR ATTENTION. YOU MAY HAVE GREAT THINGS TO DO, IT MAY BE YOUR JOB TO SAVE THE WORLD AND CONQUER SIN AND DEATH, BUT RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, THIS IS IMPORTANT – IMPORTANT ENOUGH FOR YOU TO CHANGE YOUR PLANS. AND JESUS, WHO AS A HUMAN BEING GREW IN WISDOM AND STATURE, LEARNED FROM HIS MOTHER, THE SAME PERSON WHO AFTER BEING TOLD THAT SHE WAS TO BE THE MOTHER OF THE MESSIAH, WENT TO COOK AND CLEAN AND HELP OUT HER OLDER COUSIN ELISABETH.

I HAVE A PICTURE ON MY WALL AT HOME. MY 85 YEAR OLD UNCLE, WHOSE FACE SHOWS EVERY HARD YEAR OF BEING A FARMER IN MONTANA, SITTING WITH MY SON, WHO WAS ABOUT TEN AT THE TIME. MY SON IS TALKING, AND MY OLD UNCLE IS LISTENING WITH FULL ATTENTION. MY UNCLE COULD HAD BEEN HAVING AN ADULT CONVERSATION WITH ANYONE ELSE AT THE PARTY. BUT HIS WHOLE ATTITUDE SAYS, “I CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT. I CARE ABOUT YOU.”

AFTER THINKING ABOUT THIS GOSPEL, I THOUGHT ABOUT THE MIRACLES IN MY OWN LIFE – THE ONES THAT I HARDLY NOTICED. THE WAY GOD LED ME TO FIND MY WIFE. THE SEEMINGLY RANDOM CIRCUMSTANCES THAT MADE ME CHOOSE MEDICINE FOR A CAREER, AND LATER FIND MY VOCATION TAKING CARE OF PATIENTS WITH CANCER. THE MANY MOMENTS WHEN I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, BUT SOMETHING CAME ALONG THAT SHOWED ME THE ANSWER. I GUESS I COULD DECIDE THAT THESE WERE ALL COINCIDENCES, BUT IF WE ARE REALLY CHRISTIANS, IF WE REALLY BELIEVE IN AN ALL-POWERFUL, LOVING FATHER WHO IS OUR GOD, WE HAVE TO ADMIT THAT THERE AREN'T COINCIDENCES. AND THEN WE BEGIN TO SEE HOW HE HAS BEEN ACTING IN OUR LIVES TO LEAD US TO THIS PRESENT MOMENT.

THE SIGNS IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, AND THE MIRACLE AT THE WEDDING FEAST OF CANA IS THE FIRST OF THOSE SIGNS, TELL US ABOUT HOW GOD IS. AND WE CAN BE CERTAIN THAT HE IS ALWAYS THERE IN THE MOMENTS OF OUR LIVES WHERE WE WOULD LEAST EXPECT HIM TO BE, SHARING OUR PAINS AND PLEASURES, ANSWERING OUR NEEDS EVEN BEFORE WE KNOW WHAT WE NEED; AND OFTEN DOING IT SILENTLY, BECAUSE HE CARES ABOUT WHAT WE CARE ABOUT, HE CARES ABOUT US.

THIS WEEK WHEN YOU HAVE A FEW MINUTES, LOOK BACK ON YOUR OWN LIFE, AND ASK GOD TO SHOW YOU HOW HE WAS THERE WHEN YOU NEEDED HIM; HE WAS THERE IN LITTLE THINGS, IN UNIMPORTANT THINGS, IN WHAT WE CALL COINCIDENCES. WHAT WERE THE TURNING POINTS IN YOUR OWN LIFE? AND GOD WAS THERE.

IN THE MIRACLE WE HAVE JUST WITNESSED, A MIRACLE WHICH THE BRIDE AND GROOM DID NOT EVEN NOTICES EVEN THOUGH IT WAS ABOUT THEM, JESUS TELLS US THAT NOTHING IS TOO SMALL OR TOO UNIMPORTANT FOR HIM TO BE INVOLVED. HAVEN'T WE GOT AN AWESOME GOD?