By Fr Joachim Robert
Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 95:1-3,7-10
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
John 2:2-11
Theme: Do whatever He tells you
Dear friends,
As I mentioned, the readings of today reminds us of covenant and relationship. And as we look at the scripture readings of today, especially the Gospel, it gives us the account of a wedding feast, a banquet that all of us are invited to. And as we reflect more deeply on the Gospel text of today, there are three things, dear friends, that comes to mind:-
1. Relationship
2. Hospitality
3. Presence
And today as well, we will be commissioning our faith sharers, those who impart their faith towards the young or those who are seeking. And as we look at the Gospel once again in this context of imparting the faith, of growing in faith and understanding what the Gospel text has to say, let us dig deeper in it one by one.
The first is RELATIONSHIP.
As we look at the Gospel, dear friends, the Mother of Jesus and Jesus went together for the wedding feast in Cana, in Galilee. And you know Jesus was going around in his public ministry to do many things around, to proclaim the kingdom of God. And as he worked his miracles, from the busyness of their lives, they choose to place importance on relationship by going to this wedding feast. Their time was important, to mention that this family was important to them and that relationship that they have with each other is important. And by making that importance, they also show respect and that they value the relationship by being there, making time and spending time together during the wedding feast.
The second thing, dear friends, is HOSPITALITY.
As we look at the wedding feast once again, Mary and Jesus were there at the wedding feast. And even though they had hiccups, they had problems that arise, they had a big heart to fill the gaps within this feast or during the wedding, so that they can enjoy the wedding feast smoothly. They did not complain, they did not make any judgement. They neither made any judgement or complain to the host that they did not prepare the wedding feast well enough and did not prepare sufficient drinks. On the other hand, the guests too, Jesus and Mary did not complain about the guest, that they were drinking too much and the wine ran out. They provided a solution to what was happening.
In our lives, dear friends, very often we lack many things. We lack many areas of our lives, we lack many skills, many talents to ensure that what we need to do could be accomplished. And as I look at the Parish community, we need so many of you to fill the gap in order to ensure things are done well. And I am sure, dear friends, many of you contribute towards filling the gap in ensuring that the whole live of the Parish continues to be vibrant, continues to what God has called us to. Because what is important is that we be faithful towards that mission because we value that relationship.
And even though Jesus and Mary went to the wedding feast with so many things which was lacking, they did not expose that lack to offend the couple or the host but they tried to fill the gap. You and I, dear friends, in our lives too, there are many areas in our lives that we lack. But we need to remember of that heart of Jesus and Mary, a big heart like Jesus and Mary, to be magnanimous and to respond to do what was right and what was good for everyone, without any judgement, without any complaint.
And today as well as we look at the faith sharers, there are many areas of life that even our families, dear friends, lack in and they try to fill the gap, to continue to impart that faith towards the children, towards those who are seeking, towards those who are searching for meaning and purpose in their lives. They too lack with many, many things. They heed the call of the Good Shepherd to fill the water jars, to fill it to the brim and to allow the Lord to transform and change that water into wine.
Whenever we allow our God into the centre of our lives, we are allowing transformation of water and allowing that miracle to happen before us.
The third thing we need to remember is the PRESENCE that we have with one another. Jesus and Mary were present during the wedding feast. When our presence enters a space, do people run away? And we need to ask, dear friends, whether our presence adds live, adds value, adds comfort to the people who have invited us.
The whole Parish is moving in the path of Synodality. We are called to listen to one another. We need to remember these three things:-
The first is that relationships are important and God continues to offer this relationship to us in the same way we offer to one another.
The second thing is to grow in this hospitality with a heart like Mary and Jesus so that we can have a heart that welcomes, a heart that invites and loves people
The third thing is to remember our presence makes a difference.
God himself is shaping us, moving us as one community.
As we allow Jesus who is in our lives to shine, the last line line of the Gospel text says:-
He let his glory be seen, and his disciples believed in him
We are broken vessels, lacking many things. Let us fill it with water. Let us pray for God to transform them and make those water in the vessels be transformed into wine:-
Renewed by Jesus and lead us into His light.
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