2nd Sunday,
20 January 2013 [Isaiah 62:1-5 | Psalm
96 | 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 | John 2:1-11]
[__01] Water
is the source and necessary natural resource for life.
Scientists – from
archaeologists to astrophysicists – seek to know where water has flowed in
previous centuries, on earth and on other planets.
Find the water, the
ice, the glaciers. There, you will find where life was in the past – or is currently
– sustained.
[__02] And, in last Sunday’s Gospel, the origin of
Christian life and sacramental life is traced to the water of the Jordan, to
baptism.
Water – H20
– is our starting point – in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
[__03] Water is the source – and necessary resource
for life. Water sources are also
protected, by the government, by individuals.
But, isn’t it also
true that WATER – on its own – does not constitute life
In the Book of
Genesis, the Garden of Eden is places between two rivers. The plants up because they are watered. And
human life originates also when the clay – the earth/soil and water – are mixed
together by the Lord to create Adam.
Water is transformed
into living things. The water itself needs
to change, to be transformed.
[__04] This change of water into wine is the Cana
miracle. There is a wedding, a marriage at Cana. Consider what happens in
the first few hours (not very long) after the wedding, the bride and groom and
partygoers have run out of wine.
In any commitment we
make, we would feel anxious uncertain – if our original energy (whether as
water or wine, or enthusiasm, or affection, or comfort) becomes scarce, runs
out.
[__05] An important aspect of the Cana
miracle is that only a limited group of individuals observes what Jesus has
done.
[This is typical of
other miracles, other situations where Jesus also builds relationships
personally, gradually with a small group
of followers.
Through these
relationships – and through his relationship with his – he teaches us about
forgiveness, love, honesty, humility.]
At Cana, at the
wedding, who are these selected observers?
Those who know – those
on the inside track – are the working folks in the kitchen, the servants.
They are the ones who
fill the basins with water.
The workers, the
servants – without VIP access or reservations – are in the front row for the
miracle.
[__06] They are in the front row observing what
God can do with the water we bring, the water we already possess.
In this and other
miracles – such as the multiplication of the loaves – Jesus again sends no one
to the marketplace to buy more. What we
already possess is transformed and multiplied.
[__07] C.S.
Lewis – writing about marriage in his book, Mere
Christianity - writes that the state
of being in love does not last. It is what we sometimes run out of.
[Page 109] à ”Love is not merely a feeling but
rather a deep unity maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by
habit, reinforced by the special grace which the partners ask and receive from
God.
They can have this
love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other, as
you love yourself [and take care of yourself] even when you do not like
yourself.”[1]
[__08] C.S. Lewis continues his reflection on
marriage –
Ceasing to be in love
does not mean ceasing to love.
Or, as Lewis
summarizes it in Gospel terms, no one really lives unless he or she first dies.
We read in John 12:24:
“Unless a grain of
wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But, if
it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24)
And, it’s Good News
when we willingly die, lay down our lives for each other, even amid a struggle
to do the right thing.
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