Homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C

I wonder how many of us have hidden in the back corner of the storage closet somewhere, a collection of wedding gifts that didn’t quite match our personalities. The set of ceramic squirrels, that yogurt maker, the 3D picture of horses? We welcomed the gifts graciously, and then promptly put them away.

Maybe we bring them out when the people who gave them to us comes to visit, but then they goes back in the closet and continue to collect dust.

In the gospel today, the young newlyweds received a wedding gift from Jesus that they certainly appreciated. But it didn’t come right away. It only came after near embarrassment.

A Jewish wedding was a great, joyful affair that would often last several days. This couple comes to discover that the wine has run out. Now, to understand the full significance of that, you might, like me, have to translate that into language you can understand. I come from a German family, so for me it has a greater impact to translate that as, “The beer has run out.”

But in any case, the spirits have run dry, and the young couple is on the verge of embarrassment. And so Mary, the mother of Jesus, asks him to intervene. Jesus has six stone jars filled with water, and in a miraculous gesture, he turns it into 180 gallons of wine.

What a generous gift. Not only was there now enough wine, but it was more than they needed, and better than the wine they shad begun with. It makes you wonder what would have happened if Mary had said to Jesus, “They’re out of money.”

But the celebration continues, and this young couple will have a wedding feast they will always remember–a great memory to hand on to their children.

As we look more closely at this great gift that Jesus gave, we remember that John calls this a sign, not just a miracle. There are very few miracles recounted John’s gospel–only seven, and he calls them all signs. They mean something.

So this gift of abundant wine is for more than just the young couple. It’s for you and me, and the entire Church.

This wedding at Cana is our wedding, too. We are part of the great Wedding of the Lamb.

We see this in the Old Testament which is filled with metaphors of God loving his people as a groom loves his bride.

We get a taste of that in the first reading today when Isaiah tells the forsaken people of Israel that they’re not forgotten. He tells the people of Israel that have been beaten down and kicked out of their homes that their God loves them with the love a husband for his wife:

“As a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.”

And so when we look at this sign from the gospel of John, we see in this wedding feast more than just Jesus helping out this newlywed couple.

There are two important things that this event signifies:

• First, God’s love is overflowing almost to the point of silliness.
  • 180 gallons is a lot of wine, even for a wedding. Again, to translate for the Germans or the Irish out there, that’s about 12 kegs of beer.
  • Besides the sheer abundance of wine, there’s the fact that it’s better tasting. There’s no need to serve good tasting wine now, after people have already been drinking for a while. But God’s love goes beyond what’s logical or rational or prudent.
  • And God is just as generous and extravagant with us.
  • Do we recognize and acknowledge the gifts that surround us?
  • This new day of life, parents and siblings, pets, friends
  • The house we live in, the food on the table, the clothes we wear
  • Electricity, water from a tap, indoor plumbing
  • Good schools, good roads, safe streets
  • Do we see God’s gifts in the day-to-day moments of our lives?
  • Or have we overlooked them and put them in the back corner of our mind like those wedding presents stuffed in the back of the closet?
• The second thing the Wedding at Cana signifies, is that sometimes the best gifts come after the wine has run out.
  • We’re in Ordinary Time now, and maybe we feel like we have run out of wine. Maybe the weather’s getting us down. Christmas is over, and the routine has begun again: there are errands to run, lunches to make, clothes to be washed.
  • But we begin Ordinary Time with this gospel so that as the year continues we can remember that Jesus is there to turn the ordinary water of our lives into rich, exquisite wine.
  • If we look with the eyes of faith at the events of our lives can we recognize in them the gift of overflowing love the Father has for us?
  • Jesus is right there, turning the water of our lives into wine, turning our despair into hope.
  • When our children are sick and needy and they reach out to us for a hug–that is a wedding gift from God.
  • When we visit a friend in the hospital and they reach out and tenderly take our hand, appreciative of the time we’ve taken to see them–that is a wedding gift from God.
  • As we try to find work, and we’re forced to do serious soul searching–that’s a wedding gift from God.
  • After a fight with our spouse or a colleague, and the forgiveness comes pouring out–that’s a wedding gift from God.
  • When the savior of the world is crucified on a cross, and rises on the third day–that is a wedding gift from God.
  • Sometimes the best gifts come after the wine has run out.

The marriage has begun, and yet the gifts keep rolling in. They’re greater and more abundant than anything we could have asked for. As Ordinary Time continues, we look with the eyes of faith and try to recognize the graces God has in store for us, approaching the banquet table with hope and gratitude.

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