(Is 62: 1-5; Ps 96: 1-3, 7-10; 1 Cor 12: 4-11; Jn 2: 1-11)
Imagine His hesitation. Imagine His concern. He knows that from this moment forward, nothing will ever be the same. Up until this point, He surely knew that He was different. And then He was baptized and His Father and His Spirit was revealed to Him, and descended upon Him in all His glory.
But He was still concerned. He knew what was to come. He knew the greater plan and purpose and deep down inside, in His gut and in His soul he knew the mission set before Him. He knows the stakes, and He knows the good that will come of it. But He’s got to take the first step. He asks His mother – “Here? Right now? This isn’t the time…” He’s got to set things in motion and reveal His glory and who He is, but He’s hesitant.
Because He knows that nothing will ever be the same.
The comfort and silence and simplicity of life He has enjoyed His first 30 years is about to come to an end. Life is going to be more complex. There will be trials, and struggles. There will be frustration and disappointment. There will be some joy and there will be amazement, yet there will also be immense pain, hurt and suffering. But then there will be salvation.
Nothing will ever be the same. Jesus of Nazareth, must be, Who He was meant to Be!
And it all starts in Cana. The wine is gone, which is actually a huge embarrassment for the families involved. Jesus knows that the inevitable passion, death, and resurrection is His “hour”, but His mother, as a mother often does, perhaps has more insight. She knows that there is a process to all this, signs that must be conveyed, and miracles to perform, because she knows truly who He is. She knows that this process has a purpose to get people to believe that He is the Son of God, but also unfortunately to set things in motion for His true hour – the one that will save us all.
Jesus, while fully divine, is also fully human, and in that He shows so many human traits and tendencies. He must have been so tentative about doing this. But as with anything in God’s plan, it is perfect. It is perfect where His plan is set into motion – at a wedding. It’s perfect because, as Isaiah tells us today, Jesus is to become the bridegroom to us all. We, the Church, Jews and gentiles, sinners all – together we are His bride, and this day, at the wedding of Cana, He proposed to us. He revealed who He is. He set to be who He was meant to be. And through this engagement over the next 3 years or so leading up to our wedding, He became who He Is. He is Jesus – Son of God.
There is such a human element to this that transcends time. Of course there is in all the Bible, but these readings today, where we talk about the marriage between a bride and bridegroom, becoming who you are and following God’s will amidst internal hesitation, fear and anxiety, using the gifts that God has given you to fulfill His plan and His purpose in every aspect of life – we all struggle with this. We all struggle with the internal battle of knowing what we should do, but failing to take this first step.
Maybe it is in your personal life, giving in to your pride and refusing to ask for forgiveness, whether it is from God or from others. Perhaps its in taking that first step to say “I’m sorry…” or maybe it’s in forgiving someone else who wronged you. Or, perhaps you are struggling with an addiction, but just cannot take that first step to get help and to surrender to God.
Or it could be taking that step to help a stranger who needs help, but you just pass by. Maybe it’s in your career or community, where you know there is a leap you should take, but you know that there is risk. And maybe it’s professing your love for someone else, and taking that great step together with that person in Holy Matrimony.
In all things like these, we set things in motion, and take the step to something out of our comfort zone, to a place where we know God wants us to be. We seek to use our gifts, but often we’re scared because we know that nothing will ever be the same. We’re afraid of that uncertainty. We’re hesitant. We feel our hour has not come.
But then, we get that elbow to the side, and that parental retort, as Mary did, saying, “You need to do this! Do whatever He tells you.” I wonder if this statement was not only for the servers to listen to Jesus, but also instruction to Jesus, that it is His time, to listen to and be obedient to His Father’s plan. The time is now!
There are so many parallels to this in my life, and I’m sure all of yours. But so many times I am not obedient. So many times I keep pushing my hour off, and not using my gifts to do God’s work. I’m getting better, but so often I am still hesitant.
But as Jesus revealed to us who He is, so too must we reveal who we are, and become who we are, and who we are meant to be. So many times in recent weeks I have felt Jesus’ humanity. I’ve come to truly appreciate that He experienced the same human feelings we experience – and it has been so comforting to truly come to the realization that He knows how it is to be us.
But then He is also my inspiration because through all of that, He persevered. He was faithful, devout, and obedient. We can never hope to achieve these qualities to the level that Jesus attained, but we can seek Him as our guide and try to be as Christ-like as we can. It is tough. It is a struggle. We will fail. But there’s one more thing He revealed to us – He will save us. He will turn that dirty water in our lives into the best wine.
But we must believe. We must reveal our love for Him through taking the step to share our love and our gifts with others, doing the things we know we should do because we know that others will benefit and this is God’s will.
Jesus revealed His love for us. We are His radiant bride who He loves ever so much. We in turn just need to be – be who we are in the eyes of Jesus.
