The Revelation at the Wedding at Cana in Galilee

We continue our journey with Saint John. And we are still at the beginning. Let us begin with the end of the description of this scene in the gospel (John 2: 1-11), when St. John writes: “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.” (cf. Jn 2:11)

This is the beginning. Jesus is starting something. He begins to show His Divine Face. It is a beginning in a chronological sense but also terms of importance. It is no coincidence that the beginning of everything in St. John is a feast, a wedding, that is, a feast of gathering. The natural state of man is joy, joy that we have been created in the image and likeness of God, and the fact that our only calling is union with God. But the wine was finished - this is the description of the human condition in the beginning - John's gospel begins in the same way that the Genesis account begins with the creation account. And immediately after we see that man, created to rejoice, is now presented as the one who lacks this wine, lacks this joy. We are at a wedding, but something is missing, something very important. 

The first thing we must realize today is precisely this holiday - that we are called to beauty, joy, and celebration, not evil and suffering. Evil and suffering are a disease, they are a deficiency, just like this bitter moment of the lack of wine at a wedding. Without wine, life does not make much sense, does not have too much flavor. Water, which is the theme that connects the biblical scenes, is essential to life, but it is the wine that gives it flavor.

St. John shows that Jesus was invited to the wedding because Mary was invited to it. This is an invitation to ask the Mother of God into our lives, because she will bring with her what is needed. Because she, a woman concerned about the welfare of all those gathered, knows how to name certain things, name problems, say what is missing. We see again that in the beginning there is a woman (as in the scene of the Annunciation) - with her sensitivity she helps us to open ourselves to all the wonderful things that God has prepared for us. Mary sees the problem and talks about it. She does not tell God what He is supposed to do with it, just as we often tell God very precisely what He should do for us, She only says that there is some deficiency. It is a lesson for us to be able to name certain deficiencies in our lives and present them - to God or our loved ones. Let us talk to each other about what is missing in our lives, in our families.

Well, that is the question ... who is the main character of this story?
What amazes us the most is that the Bride and Groom are not the main heroes of this story, they are practically absent. Mary quickly moves into the shadows, turns her head away, the headwaiter has nothing to do with what happened, even the Lord Jesus is not a hero, who was there somehow by chance, he is not sitting in a place of honor.

So, who is the main character of this story? Who else is left ...? Those who say nothing. Servants, those who work hard to carry out these absurd, humanly speaking, commands. These are the Servants; no one sees or praises them if they do their job well.

If it were not for their obedience to Mary's words, "do whatever he tells you," and then to the words of Jesus what to do, the wedding would probably have ended soon. It is the obedience of the servants that turns water into wine.

The obedience to God works wonders in our lives. And it is not about the obedience of slaves - but the obedience of God's children to the Father who is in Heaven and to all that He has prepared for us.

This servant is a symbol of each of us.
The first step is to stop trying to live our life as if we were the protagonists. Because we are not! We often think we must write a life script and then implement it. But it is not like that! First, we accept what the Lord has prepared for us. Often recall these words of Our Lady, "do whatever he tells you" - not I will do something, but I let God act in me. This obedience to Christ turns water into wine. This difficult situation is solved by fulfilling this order, this command: do what he tells you to do. Accept this project that God has prepared for us. We will do our part - and the Lord Jesus will turn it into wine. 

We must also remember that these jars were used for cleansing. They usually stood in the dirtiest corner, they were not crystal jars, something to put in the living room, but something we would be disgusted with. And that is what the Lord Jesus uses to perform a miracle. He takes all our filth and turns it into wine, something good.

Let us ask that we do not fall into the trap of self-sufficiency but that we enter into a relationship. Because we must also understand one thing: that if we rely only on ourselves, sooner or later we will run out of this wine. If we only walk our way, it will not work. The starting point should always be only in God. And of course, this is not about wine in the literal sense. This wine will be something different for everyone, it is about what brings me joy, because it is God who wants us to rejoice. Of course, let us not confuse it with pleasure, but Jesus begins his mission with the sign showing that he came to bring us joy.

Until next Time
fr. george