Homily (Reflection) for the Second Sunday
of the Year (C) (20th January, 2019) on the Gospel
Is 62:1-5;
Ps 95:1-3.7-10. (R. v. 3);1Cor 12:4-11;
Jn 2:1-11.
John Keats the English poet, as a lad,
attended Sunday classes regularly. Once the teacher gave a précis writing
exercise to the children. The passage was the miracle at Cana, changing water
into wine.
Keats was such a genius child, he wrote in
one sentence and got the applause of everyone.
“She saw him and blushed."
.... water, the creature saw her creator
Jesus and blushed, she turned red.[1]
Topic: The Good wine and its press.
Jesus, His mother, and His
disciples were in a wedding in today’s gospel. When the bride and the groom ran
out of wine Mary approached her Son saying: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). Although it was not yet time
for Him to manifest Himself, Jesus turned water into good wine. When the chief
steward who did not know how the wine came about tasted it he said to the
bridegroom, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine
after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now”
(Jn 2:10).
Wine is produced mostly from grapes. And grapes are fruits
of vine, cf. Mk 14:23-25. Wine
points to how good the grapes that produced it were and the quality of the
grapes depends of the vine, cf. Matt
7:16-18, 20.
Jesus tells us in the gospel according to Saint John, that
He is the vine, cf. Jn 15:5. Earlier
He defined the type of vine in these words: “I am the true vine” (Jn 15:1). Going by the passage we quoted
earlier (Matt 7:16-18, 20) true vine
makes true wine.
During the Last Supper with His disciples Jesus took a cup
filled with wine and after giving thanks gave it to His disciples saying:
“Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is
poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt 26:27-28; cf. Mk 14:23-24). Christ’s body and blood are for
both our temporal and spiritual benefits. But ultimately, to reconcile us with
the Father (forgiveness of our sins), cf. Eph
2:16.
Jesus is Lord, cf. Rom
10:9; 1Cor 12:3. As a result, He has the best of everything, cf. Ps 112:3; Prov 8:18; Rev 5:12; 1Cor 11:12.
When it was not yet time to manifest Himself, Mary as a wine press of a kind
was able to get the best from Him to save the bride and the groom the
embarrassment of not being able to give wine to their guests.
Jesus is still the Lord. John Keats rightly wrote that water
saw Him and blushed. He still has the best. All things are possible for Him,
cf. Matt 19:26; Mk 10:27. But many
still resist Jesus although He asks us to come to Him that we may have life,
cf. Jn 5:40. We ought to approach
Him to have our thirst quenched, cf. Jn 7:37.
As we go to Jesus
for all we need, I strongly suggest we remember that Mary is still His
mother. She can and will always get the best from her Son because He cannot
contradict Himself, cf. Ex 20:12; Deut
5:16; Matt 15:4; 19:19; Mk 7:10; Eph 6:2.
Bible Reading: Matt 7:16-18, 20; 11:25-30; Jn 5:39-47; 7:37-39;
15:1-16.
Thought for today:
You can only get the right wine from the right vine through the right press.
Let us pray: Jesus the true vine, fill us with right
wine that we may never be thirsty again – Amen.
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[1]
Sagayanathan, A. (2009). Launching
pad: Stories for Sunday homilies-A, B&C. Bangalore: Asian Trading
Corporation, p. 292.
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