Dear Preachers:
We have been invited to a wedding. It is not a fancy affair, so we don’t need to dress too formally. But, if we accept the invitation, expect to have a good time. The family is poor, but weddings are occasions to go overboard — get carried away. They have been putting a little aside for a long time to be able to celebrate their child’s wedding. Plan to stay around because wedding feasts like this one can last for days. The food will be abundant and the wine will be the best they can afford. If you are a wine drinker and a bit fussy, don’t say anything after you taste the wine, it will not measure up to your sophisticated tastes. Still, they are doing the best they can — after all it’s a wedding.
Did you get the invitation? Of course you did, so did I. Didn’t you notice the point John made as he began to narrate the Cana wedding? Note the people he specifically mentions who were invited to the celebration, “… the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.” I can’t help but wonder if Jesus and his disciples were invited because of his mother. She seems to be a friend of the family or, was she a relative?
It’s still early in the feasting and drinking when Mary expresses her concern to Jesus, “They have no wine.” What an embarrassment for the family! Perhaps the host couple had realized Jesus and his disciples were in the area and, because of their relationship to Mary, they felt obliged to invite them. How many disciples were with Jesus? Is that why they ran out of wine, because of the added number of guests the family hadn’t planned for? It’s a wonder they didn’t run out of food too, with those travelers arriving weary from the road, with their big appetites and thirst.
But John isn’t just telling us about one wedding in a small peasant town, a long time ago, is he? It’s curious, don’t you think, that he doesn’t mention they ran out of food? They ran out of wine, Mary noticed, says something to Jesus and he did something about it, with his disciples to watch and learn. What kind of feast would it be without wine to cheer hearts and provide an occasion for toasts? Without the wine how could someone stand up, raise a cup in salutation and give a little speech, or a wish for long years, lots of children and happiness? Without that wine how could people in chilly relationships sit down with one another, sip the wine and let bygones be bygones? It’s about the wine. They ran out. On our own, without the wine God provides, how will we be able to experience forgiveness and a reason to celebrate what we have received?
Mary notices the shortage of wine and tells her sonwhat she has observed. At first Jesus is reluctant to respond to his mother’s subtle request. Was he concerned that if he did provide the wine things would get out of hand. After all, there were six water jars nearby waiting to be changed. That’s a lot of water, that will be a lot of wine! Things could become quite exuberant and celebratory with that much wine.
Mary’s observation should be ours as well. The world is in need and we believe Jesus can address those needs. Like Mary, we followers of Jesus, observe the needs of those around us. We might wonder: why does Jesus seem reluctant to do anything about pressing poverty, war, terrorism, addictions, fatal illnesses and on and on? Why doesn’t he come and do something big for us, as he did for those wedding guests in Cana?
The Cana story is ripe with symbolism. Yes, there is a need. Yes, at first Jesus seems to hold back, but when he acts, it is with a superabundance. An overflowing supply of wine is a biblical symbol for God’s grace. Is that a message for us as we take the eucharistic cup today? Are we being offered an abundance of grace to help us address the evils we may be waiting for God to handle? Remember how John opened today’s story: Jesus’ disciples had been invited to a wedding at Cana and so were we. We wedding guests, who witnessed what happened, are being challenged to learn and act, when and where the occasion requires.
The impulse for Jesus to act seems to come from his mother. Is that what we are doing in our prayer today, joining Mary and asking God to “do something” about all that is wrong in our world? We also join our prayer today with our Jewish ancestors who, in the midst of slavery and suffering, prayed Psalms of lament to God. They cried out, often in complaint and urgent prayer to God, “Do something!”
I don’t believe God is reluctant to do good in the world, quite the contrary. But it does seem that way when I look around and see the enormous evils that permeate our world. Perhaps our prayers need more urgency about them. Not because of Jesus’ complacency, but our own. Stirred by a more urgent prayer (“Do something!”) I might be moved to “do something” myself. But do what?
I was talking with the distinguished Jesuit theologian, Donald Gelpi, some years ago about conditions of the world and how powerless I felt as I faced the enormity of the problems. Donald’s response was, “Just do something about the corner of the cloth nearest you.” He was advising me, in a much more poetic way, to address the problems I observed. What needs did I see? What could I do about them? Or, as I heard it, “Just do something!” The symbol of the abundant wine today is a reminder that when we “do something” God’s grace will be there for us.
Now, at this Eucharist, we are guests at a wedding. First, we hear about our gracious God in the Scriptures. Then, we experience God’s plenty when we eat and drink at the feast. What’s next? Well, as Father Gelpi suggested, do something about “the corner of the cloth nearest you.” And trust that God will provide more than enough help and reason to celebrate.