Gifts
It seems like Christmas has slipped away. Decorations are neatly packed. Just like our church our homes look empty and bare. But we do not need to sit in depression for life gives us many events to celebrate throughout the year. Today it is the wedding feast at Cana, and we get to be witnesses. Not just guests but witnesses.
The first reading definitely speaks about marriage. A young man is so in love with his bride he calls her “My Delight”. All married couples have special names for their spouse. My Delight is a very special name indeed. I think it also speaks of God. We all know that God is love. What does God love? Of course, He loves us, but He created us.
Remember in Genesis God realized that man needed a suitable partner. Implying that man could name the rest of creation but none of the animals was a suitable partner. God then created woman. Man and woman created by God. We can understand the love between a man and a woman. But what/who does God love?
From our catechism we know of Jesus as God’s only begotten Son. God did not create Jesus; He was begotten of the same substance. God from God, Light from Light. God’s only begotten Son also gives us the perfect example of marriage. In Jesus we see divinity married to humanity in a wonderful unexplainable way that we will never understand.
This brings us to our gospel where Jesus is at the wedding celebration in Cana. Jesus begins His ministry with this miracle of changing water to wine. Last week at the baptism of Jesus, He prepared all of the water on earth to be useable for baptism. Now He takes that same water and prepares it to be used for wine which will soon become His blood. He also shows the importance of the sacrament of marriage.
One day we will be part of that marriage of divinity wedded to humanity. When we receive communion, it is not us taking Jesus in us but Jesus taking us into Himself. One last thought, did you notice it was Mary who encouraged Jesus. Jesus is the new creation and Mary is the new Eve. Mary always directs us to her son.
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen