Second Sunday in Ordinary Time C. January 18, 2004. Our Lady of Grace. 7:30, 11:30, 6PM. Isaiah 62: 1-5. 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11. John 2: 1-11.
A couple had been arguing for most of the day. Finally they just stopped talking to one another and spent the end of the day in silence. Later that evening the husband remembered that he had an important meeting early the next morning. His wife was always up early and eager to get at the day. The husband was not ready to give in and speak to his wife before they went to bed. He very carefully wrote his wife a note telling her wake him up at 5 AM. He placed the note on his wife’s pillow and then faced away from her side of the bed and went to sleep for the night. The next morning he woke up to find that it was already 9:00AM. He was horrified. He had missed his meeting. He jumped out of bed and spotted a note lying next to him. It was from his wife. It said, “It is 5:00 now and time for you to get up.” Clearly their marriage had run out of wine.
There was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there… When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” The servers filled huge stone jar with water. When the head water tasted the water that had become wine he was amazed that it was the best wine of all. Jesus worked the first of his signs at a wedding in Cana of Galilee for a newly married couple who had already run out of wine. He worked this miracle at a wedding feast because of the importance marriage has in proclaiming the reign of God in the world. The Sacrament of Marriage is meant to be a sign and an experience of God’s faithful love in the world.
God loves us when we are good and when we are bad. God did not walk away from us after the tragedy of original sin and every other sin that has happened since the creation of the human race. Not only did God continue to speak to us through the prophets and through his grace in the centuries after the fall, God sent his Son to reestablish his covenant with our human family even when it meant death on a Cross. In the language of Scripture, God is married to the human race. God says in the words of Isaiah, “No more shall people call you ‘Forsaken,’ or you land ‘Desolate.’ But you shall be called ‘My Delight,’ and your land ‘Espoused.’ For the Lord delights in you and makes your land his spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, you Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall you God rejoice in you.”
The marriage of God to our human race has been very costly. It has cost the death of Jesus Christ and the hard work and cooperation of God’s people, each and every one of the baptized and all of the saints. The marriage covenant relationship between God and the Church is still not perfect. It is a work in progress. Any marriage, including God’s marriage with the Church takes grace, hard work and time.
The vows spoken by a couple being married express the same promise that Jesus has made to us as the Church: I take you to be my spouse. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life. Christian marriage is about God’s faithful love. It is about much more than human love. Christian marriage is about God’s ever faithful love for you and me and for the whole Church, and the whole world.
The marriage between two Christians is never perfect. Sometimes marriage doesn’t work. Yet the Church takes marriage very seriously because it sees the reflection of Christ’s love for the Church even in an imperfect marriage. Marriage is a reflection of the holiness of God in faithful, self-giving commitment and in creative life-giving love.
There is much conversation about the celibacy of priests lately. Saturday’s StartTibune is an example of the discussion. If I had the answer as to whether priests should be married or not married, and I could explain my reasons to you in a twelve minuet homily, I would be at least a cardinal by now! What I do know is that marriage and celibacy both witness to Christ’s faithful love for the Church and the Church’s desire to express her faithful love for Christ. The single person dedicated to Christ in the single life, whether that person is a bishop, a priest, a religious Sister or a religious Brother, is another way that the Church expresses its total and undivided love for Christ, the spouse of the Church. In turn, the love and ministry of the celibate priest or religious to the Church is an expression of Christ’s undivided and faithful love for his bride, the Church. Both marriage and celibacy witness to the same reality, the marriage between Christ and the Church. Both are essential to the life of the Church. When marriage is in trouble, so is celibacy, and vise versa.
Both marriage and celibacy are being challenged today. It would appear that for both marriage and dedicated celibacy the wine of celebration and hope has run short. Today’s gospel reminds us that Mary noticed that the wine had run short for a young couple on the very first day of their marriage. She intervened with her Son and Jesus worked the first of his miracles to save and enhance the celebration of marriage. Today we rejoice in the Sacrament of Marriage and the sign of faithful love it is in the word. We remember that dedicated celibacy is another way that the Church and Christ express their love for one another. Most of all we trust in Jesus who is with us even when we come up short and the wine runs out. For Christ’s faithful marriage to the Church we give God thanks and praise