2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025 - Cana Epiphanies

 Two weeks ago, on the Feast of the Epiphany, the babe at Bethlehem was revealed to be the Son of God and savior of the world. What an epiphany: Jesus is revealed as God in the flesh come to earth to save and redeem all people of all nations of all time.

Last Week, we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord.  The voice of the Father proclaimed Jesus to be his beloved Son, with whom He is well pleased and the Holy Spirit in the bodily form of the dove was seen, revealing Jesus as Christ.  What an epiphany—Jesus is revealed as what…as the second person of the holy Trinity, beloved by the Father, anointed by the Spirit for the work of salvation.

Today, we heard in our Gospel another epiphany, a set of epiphanies, really! The Gospel of the wedding feast of Cana contains epiphanies about Jesus, epiphanies about his Blessed Mother, and it even reveals something about us and the response God wants from us all, of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

Firstly, what does the Gospel reveal about Jesus? At the Wedding at Cana, Jesus is revealed to be the divine bridegroom. And you might say, Jesus wasn’t getting married, how is he the Bridegroom. Well, at a Jewish wedding, it was the responsibility of the bridegroom to provide the wine. We can see this to be true, even in the text, for when the headwaiter tastes the wine, he immediately calls the bridegroom, assuming that he was the one who procured the vintage.

But, in this story, it was Jesus who provided the wine. By taking on the bridegroom’s responsibility to provide the wine, and doing so in a spectacular style, miraculously changing 120-180 gallons of water into the finest vintage, Jesus reveals himself as the Divine Bridegroom, who provides the wine of salvation for his bride, the Church.  

This epiphany was hinted at in our first reading. Isiah prophesied about how God himself would take us as his spouse: “As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.” 

In joining the Church to himself, through his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has united himself to humanity as Bridegroom to his Bride in a union of love.

And that Jesus revealed himself as a Bridegroom through a miracle of changing water into wine, is also significant. Wine, drunk at a wedding brings joy to the hearts of those who imbibe in it. So too, those who join the church, are able to rejoice at being united to God through Baptism, and most especially, receiving Holy Communion with God through the Sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood, the Eucharist.

What an epiphany! Jesus is the Bridegroom who unites himself to us, through Sacramental bonds, that we may live in joy. 

The second epiphany at the wedding at Cana is regarding Jesus’ mother, something that also gladdens our hearts. 

You can imagine how embarrassing it would be today if, at a wedding reception, the banquet hall ran out of food or beverage.  Even though most people would sympathize with the couple and blame the banquet facility, it would still be embarrassing. Well, in the ancient world, it would be incalculably more so, because the family threw the wedding party. If they ran out of supplies, especially with days to go for the duration of the wedding celebration, it would be an embarrassment that likely would never be forgotten.

Well, who noticed first that the family had run out of wine? Jesus’ mother. Mary noticed the impending catastrophe before anyone else, even the mother of the bride and even the wine steward.  Mary’s love made her notice details that others were missing.  To remedy the problem, she went to her son.  She didn’t twist his arm.  She simply said, “they have no wine!” confident that her Son would miraculously intervene even though his “hour” had not yet come.

What’s the epiphany? Mary is involved in the gritty details of our lives, and she is at work before we even know we have a problem. Our Lady is looking down on all of us right now with maternal love, bringing our needs to Christ, even the ones we are not aware of, the needs we might even be ashamed to acknowledge—praying that we may have the strength and patience and humility, to bear our crosses in union with Christ.  Mary brings our trials, our heartaches, our challenges, our vices and sins to God, so that we may obtain the wine of grace we need to endure and overcome them.

Mary’s role in the Church reveals something about God too. God has placed Mary in this role of heavenly helper and intercessor. God has chosen her and thereby God wants us to have a relationship with her, trusting Mary, entrusting ourselves to her, bringing our needs to her. God formed the Church as a family with the greatest mother in all existence. 

And there is the epiphany about us as well: God has formed us into a family, united us through Jesus in Word and Sacrament, having Mary as mother. And  we are joined with each other for a purpose.

In the second reading today, St. Paul reflects on the variety of spiritual gifts…gifts of healing, mighty deeds, prophecy, discernment, varieties of tongues. Gifts given to glorify God and spread the Gospel. All these gifts are given to help us serve God. But notice, St. Paul says that none of us have received all of these gifts. Meaning, we are to work together, using our unique gifts, to serve God. We aren’t meant to do it on our own. Perhaps, this season, you’d do well to consider how God is calling you to work together with a brother or sister in Christ, in service to God—that all people of all places may come to drink the wine of salvation.

While the extraordinary seasons of Advent and Christmas have come to an end, our Ordinary Time scripture readings help us to realize the extraordinary nature of being members of the church, being loved by God, joyfully gifted with a variety of blessings, and spiritual helpers, the blessed Mother, our patron saints, our guardian angels  for the work of the Gospel. 

When we are faithful to our mission— Epiphanies of Christ’s goodness and power and love are made known in us and through us, in how we treat people, in the people we serve, and forgive, and witness to, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

2nd Week in Ordinary Time 2024 - Monday - Christ the Bridegroom

 Throughout the Old Testament prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Hosea, as well as in Song of Songs, God reveals the mystery of His desire for union with humanity – a union so intimate that He describes it as spousal love: God is the bridegroom and Israel is the bride.

Despite the infidelity of the people of Israel, God still pursues them with a merciful love. The promise of the bridegroom, however, remained incomplete in the Old Testament.

In the Gospel of John, John the Baptist makes the astonishing claim that Jesus is the Bridegroom—Jesus is God come to earth to unite humanity. John says, “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom… He must increase; I must decrease” 

And in the passage from Mark’s Gospel today, we heard how Jesus identifies himself as the Bridegroom. St. Matthew also reports Jesus’ self-identification as the Bridegroom.

In fact, the Lord also shows that he is the Bridegroom through his deeds. At the wedding at Cana, the wedding party runs out of wine. In Jewish culture it was the groom’s responsibility to provide the wine. And what do we find happening at the wedding at Cana? Jesus miraculously changes jugs of water into an abundance of wine, showing himself to be the long-awaited bridegroom.

Jesus further reveals himself as the bridegroom at the end of his life through the Eucharist and on the Cross. More than a last meal, the Last Supper is a wedding banquet wherein Jesus, like a good husband, offers the total gift of Himself. On the Cross, Jesus consummates this gift and weds himself totally to humanity forever. On the cross, too, his dying breath, in Greek was tetelestai—it is consummated. 

The Church celebrates the Eucharist daily as a memorial of what our Bridegroom has done for us. St. John Paul wrote "The Eucharist is the sacrament of our redemption. It is the sacrament of the Bridegroom and of the Bride." 

Moreover, "the entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal love of Christ and the Church.” We seek to live upstanding lives, lives full of virtue and grace-- "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev 21:2).—that the union we have begun in Christ on earth, may come to its fulfillment in heaven, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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To God the Father Almighty we direct the prayers of our heart for the needs and salvation of humanity and the good of His faithful ones.

For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her.

For the peoples of the world, that the Lord may graciously preserve harmony among them.

For all who are oppressed by any kind of need, that the Lord may graciously grant them relief.

For ourselves and our own community, that the Lord may graciously receive us as a sacrifice acceptable to himself.

For our beloved dead, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Mass is offered.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

2nd Week of OT 2021 - Monday - Christ the Bridegroom and High Priest

 

In the time of Jesus, Jewish law required fasting once a year, on the Day of Atonement, which we know as Yom Kippur, and a few other minor fast days. Above and beyond what the law prescribed, the Pharisees practiced fasting twice a week. Jewish rabbis and their followers would practice increased fasting as well. The disciples of John the Baptist, too, apparently imitated John’s ascetic lifestyle, fasting as a sign of repentance and in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. So there was a sort of religious attitude toward fasting in Jesus’ day that the more one fasted, the holier one must be. 

In contrast, Jesus and his disciples are seen not only feast with sinners but failing to observe the days of fasting prescribed by the law. 

In reply to those voicing criticism concerning his practices, the Lord takes the opportunity to reveal something about his identity. These meals that he has been sharing, these feasts, are no mere ordinary gatherings for physical sustenance. When he gathers with his associates, his friends, and with sinners, he is a bridegroom with his wedding guests. 

What is more important, in the course of his public ministry than fasting, is revealing that he is the long awaited for Messiah—who will fully restore the nuptial bond between God and his people lost by sin.

He is the High Priest, as we heard in the first reading from the letter to the Hebrews, who reconciles God and man, through his flesh, who becomes a “source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”

So, this Gospel is much more about how often we should fast as followers of Jesus, for as he said, “the days will come when my disciples will fast.” This Gospel is about recognizing that Jesus was much more than a common rabbi, a pharisee, much more than even John the Baptist. 

And again, this is still just chapter 2 of Mark’s Gospel. So imagine you are reading this for the first time, and more and more of Jesus’ identity is being revealed. You’d be thinking, this keeps getting better and better! God is not just doing something of the same old thing, he’s doing something new.

And just as it was 2000 years ago, God wants to do something new in our lives—to bring about new gifts, a flourishing of new ways of showing his glory, new ways of reconciling sinners to himself, new ways of reaching the hardest of hearts, new ways of revealing the love of the Bridegroom for his Bride the Church. May we be attentive to the ways the Holy Spirit wishes to use in in new ways for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For a deeper openness to God’s will, readiness for service, attentiveness to those in need, and peace in our world and our hearts.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For all those preparing for baptism and full initiation: that they may be open to the grace of conversion and the joy of the followers of Christ.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For a new springtime of justice: that all people of good will may work together against the increasing threats to civility, religious liberty and human life.  Let us pray to the Lord.

For those who struggle because of addiction, discouragement, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, or ongoing trials of any kind:  that the new wine of God’s grace through Christ will bring them consolation and peace.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, For the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for the souls in purgatory and for…N. for whom this mass is offered.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

32nd Week in OT 2020 - Friday - A warning to progressives

Will you be prepared when the Son of Man comes?

Throughout his ministry, the Lord offers many warnings about the need to repent, to turn one’s life around and to embrace his teachings and place faith in him. For example, in the parable of the 10 virgins, which we heard last sunday, the foolish virgins are shut out of the wedding feast, for failing to prepare for the return of the bridegroom. There will be consequences if you fail to prepare your soul.

In today’s reading the Lord gives a series of examples of those who were unprepared for the end of their lives which came rather unexpectedly. 

The people of Noah’s time, ignored Noah’s warnings, wrote him off as a crazy person for constructing the ark. They just went about their lives eating and drinking and marrying. They were unprepared for the flood because they unlike Noah, had not attuned their hearts to God.

So too the people of Sodom, a city filled with wickedness. They were going about living godless lives—eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting and building, engaging in earthly matters, when all of a sudden fire and brimstone rained from the sky. Due to their wickedness, their souls were unprepared for this natural disaster. 

The warning is clear: we must be prepared by attuning our lives to God. How do we do that? St. John gives us the clear instruction.

St. John rejoices because many of the Christians to whom he was writing were walking in the truth, abiding by the commandments of God. They were attentive to attuning their moral lives to the truth that comes from God.

But John also offers a warning. He warns the Christians about being too progressive. Finding this term “progressive” in the scriptures might surprise us. I’ve known Christians who have prided themselves about being progressive. Open to new ideas and the changing ways of the world. And to an extent that is fine. But John is very clear about the possibility of being too progressive, so much so that you do not remain in the teaching of Christ. 

He is very clear that there comes a point where the ideas in the world, new ideas, new philosophies, new moralities, and models of the human person, cease to be consistent with the teaching of Christ.

And just like the people of Sodom and the people of Noah’s day, the danger of being too progressive is that you get so wrapped up in pursuing and pushing the ideas of the world, that you will find yourself unprepared for the return of the bridegroom. 

For the people of John’s day, it was considered “progressive” to deny that Jesus was fully human, to consider him simply appearing to be human or that his humanity was insignificant: a clear contradiction of the Catholic faith handed down by the apostles. In our day, so-called progressives might be those who seek to make allowance for certain moral teachings that are contrary to the Catholic faith. Progressivism can devolve into a form of godlessness when it no longer remains rooted in the truth of Christ.

So, St. John is warning us to be very careful about progressive theological trends, because you might just find yourself deceived by the antichrist, and unprepared for the return of the bridegroom.

Rather, as our Psalm declares: “Blessed are they who follow the Lord, who walk in the law of the Lord, who observe his decrees, and seek him with all their heart.” May we be prepared for the return of the Bridegroom by walking always in his truth, by seeking Him with our whole heart for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the healing of all division in the Church, for the Pope and all Bishops and Priests to be truly faithful in teaching the fullness of Faith, for the conversion of those whose hearts are hardened to the truth of the Gospel. 

That leaders of nations may find guidance in the Word of God for proper governance and the pursuit of justice for all.

That Christian families may be places where the Christian faith is studied, understood, observed, and cherished.

For all those who suffer illness, those in hospitals, nursing homes and hospice care.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, the deceased members of our families friends and parishes, for those who fought and died for our freedom, and N. for whom this Mass is offered.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all goodness, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain

September 2020 - First Friday Holy Hour - The wedding Feast and Eucharistic Adoration

Weddings are a recurring theme in the Gospel. The Lord’s first miracle recorded in the Gospel of John takes place at a wedding—the wedding at Cana—where the Lord transforms water into an abundance of wine. And, as we heard in this evening, the Lord compares his ministry—his dining with tax collectors and sinners—to a wedding feast. He is the bridegroom—and can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?

The Lord’s original audience would no doubt have picked up on the messianic undertones of the all of this wedding language. The age of the Messiah, the long awaited for final stage of human history, when the Lord’s Messiah would usher in the definitive kingdom of God—is scripturally linked to the wedding feast. Through the work of the Messiah, the Lord God would provide for his people rich food and choice new wines—juicy rich food and pure choice wines.

So, the Gospel reading certainly helped the early church understand their place in history. This is the age of fasting. In the words of the Lord, “the bridegroom has been taken away”—he has ascended to the Father’s right hand. And so, we fast and do penance and prepare our souls for the bridegroom’s return. We are to be like those wise virgins who await the bridegroom with lighted lamps, waiting to be welcomed in the wedding feast. 

And yet, at the same time, the bridegroom is already here, isn’t he? We are already fed with the rich food and choice wine, of the Eucharist. At holy Mass. This is why the Church fathers speak of the Mass as a foretaste of heaven. Already we sit at the banquet table of the lamb. Already we are fed with the rich food from heaven—the Eucharist. And already we are able to mystically experience and celebrate the joining of the bridegroom to his bride—the Church—when we participate at Mass.

And when we come to Holy Hour, and adore the Blessed Sacrament—we are able to glimpse the Bridegroom—with joyful anticipation—like the Bride in the Song of Songs—who rejoices at the sight of her lover right standing at her window. “Here he stands behind the wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices. My lover speaks; he says to me, Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come!” The bridegroom of the Song of Songs says, “the flames of true devotion are a blazing fire. Deep waters cannot quench love, nor floods sweep it away.”

This night, we gaze upon the bridegroom. May he set our hearts afire with the flames of true devotion—flames that cannot be drowned by worldliness or selfishness or the floods of worldly anxiety. We kneel, and adore, and await his return where he will arrive, not simply under sacramental signs—but in the fullness of his glory…for the glory of God and salvation of souls.