![\"Star](\"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/starwarshorizontal-500x281.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard about the new Star Wars movie, Now this is not unique, of course, to Star Wars. These stories resonate with us This is especially true this time of year in January, It\u2019s a bit of a let down, And the culture around us doesn\u2019t help, either. Sometimes this even happens on a national scale And so in some way we can all relate to being abandoned, That\u2019s why the Wedding Feast of Cana is so important today, right now. The Wedding feast of Cana reminds us This is the beginning of Jesus\u2019 public ministry in John\u2019s gospel. And so at the very beginning, at the outset, Jesus is at a wedding with his mother, We don\u2019t know the couple was whose wedding Jesus celebrated. And at this wedding in Cana, At this wedding in Cana the wine is running out. And it takes someone like Mary to recognize it. And so Mary goes to Jesus As we begin Ordinary Time it is good for us to hear The story of Cana is all about newness: When we invite Jesus into our lives, And just as Mary noticed that the wine was running out, It\u2019s at those times most of all that we turn to Jesus This is why we have each been given the spiritual gifts we heard today The prophecy of Isaiah has come true:<\/p>\n We are a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD, When we feel abandoned and forsaken, Today we are reminded that Jesus is the source of our real hope. That\u2019s why we come here to celebrate the Eucharist.
\nThe Force Awakens<\/em>.
\nIt\u2019s breaking all box office records,
\nand I\u2019ve seen it myself a couple of times.
\nOne of the things I find interesting about this new Star Wars trilogy
\nis that it begins in the same way as the original trilogy with Luke Skywalker.
\nIf you haven\u2019t seen it yet, I\u2019m not giving much away
\nby saying that the main character starts the story on a desert planet
\nfeeling forsaken, feeling abandoned,
\njust like Luke Skywalker alone on the planet Tatooine
\nfeeling left out of things,
\nfeeling abandoned by his friends who have gone off to fight in the rebellion.<\/p>\n
\nMany, many stories begin wth the main character
\nbeing abandoned or forsaken.
\nHarry Potter, for instance, is left on the Dursley doorstep as a baby
\nwhere he grows up in a tiny room under the stairs, abandoned, seemingly, by any friends he might have had.
\nThere\u2019s also Robinson Crusoe, shipwrecked on an island,
\nyoung Pip in Great Expectations<\/em> and Jane Eyre,
\norphans who are raised by distant family members,
\nand Cinderella who is left abandoned when her father passes away
\nand is forsaken, ignored, persecuted by her stepmother and stepsisters.<\/p>\n
\nbecause we can feel abandoned at times,
\nwe can feel forsaken,
\nthat we\u2019re living as the prophet Isaiah says in a desolate land.<\/p>\n
\nwith its grey skies and frigid temperatures.
\nWe\u2019ve just come out of the long holiday season.
\nThe celebrating began at Thanksgiving
\nand lasted all through November and December.
\nAnd then suddenly life returns to normal.
\nThe mail has turned from Christmas cards to credit card bills.
\nNow we\u2019re back at work,
\nthe kids are back in school, and so life continues.<\/p>\n
\nthis time of year called Ordinary Time.
\nIt\u2019s not meant to be humdrum, but that\u2019s sometimes how we feel.
\nThe word Ordinary itself simply comes from the word Ordinal
\nwhich means counted, it\u2019s counted time,
\nwe count the weeks of the Church year.
\nBut maybe sometimes we feel instead
\nthat we\u2019re counting down the days to our next vacation.<\/p>\n
\nSometimes we feel abandoned by the culture,
\nabandoned by people who call us ignorant for our beliefs,
\nor who say that we\u2019re outdated,
\nthat the values we believe in are old-fashioned.
\nWe\u2019re \u201cout of touch with reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nwhen a group is mocked or persecuted.
\nCertainly the Jews during the Holocaust
\nmust have felt abandoned,
\nlike they were living in desolate times.
\nIn today\u2019s world Christian Syrians
\nand other Christians in the Middle East feel abandoned, forsaken.<\/p>\n
\nof being left on our own,
\nlike Rey or Luke Skywalker in Star Wars,
\nor Harry Potter, or Jane Eyre.<\/p>\n
\nFor the rest of this year we will be reading from the gospel of Luke,
\nbut before we get to Luke,
\nthe Church chooses this reading from John\u2019s Gospel
\nto help us transition from the Christmas season to Ordinary Time.<\/p>\n
\nthat we are not forsaken,
\nthat we are not abandoned,
\nthat we are not living in desolation.<\/p>\n
\nAt Christmas we celebrated Jesus\u2019 birth,
\nlast week we recalled Jesus\u2019 baptism,
\nand now we have the beginning of his public ministry.<\/p>\n
\nwe\u2019re given a reminder
\nthat though we may at times feel abandoned,
\nthough we may at times feel left out,
\nthis gospel tells us not to let that get us down,
\nnot to let that overcome us.<\/p>\n
\nand as one spiritual writer puts it,<\/p>\n
\nMaybe that\u2019s because it wasn\u2019t just their wedding,
\nbut the marriage between God and the people of God.
\n\u2026Isaiah had dreamed about the day when
\n\u201cas a bridegroom rejoices in his bride,
\nso shall your God rejoice in you.\u201d
\nFor John, Jesus is not just a guest at the wedding,
\nhe is the bridegroom who has come to make a loving and lasting
\ncommitment with God\u2019s people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nthe celebration is maybe beginning to die down,
\njust as in a marriage the excitement can die down,
\nthe couple can settle into a routine,
\nthe family can get in a rut.<\/p>\n
\nIn our lives, it can feel like the wine is running out.<\/p>\n
\nIt takes someone like Mary to point out that the wine is running out,
\nthat the celebration is about to fall apart,
\nand that Jesus is the one who can bring it back to life.<\/p>\n
\nand then she goes to the servers and says,
\n\u201cDo whatever he tells you to do.\u201d
\nAnd Jesus changes the water into wine.<\/p>\n
\nthat as we continue in January and move into February,
\nJesus turns the water of our lives into wine.<\/p>\n
\nnew wine,
\nnew grace,
\nnew beginnings.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\njust as the couple invited him to their wedding,
\nthen he takes the ordinary moments and fills them with grace.
\nOur getting up in the morning for breakfast,
\nour commute to work,
\nthe daily grind,
\nare full of graces
\nnow that Jesus has come into the world.<\/p>\n
\nwe can look at the world around us and notice the wine running out,
\nthe celebration starting to die down,
\nthe feelings of abandonment and desolation starting to grow.<\/p>\n
\nand tell him, \u201cWe have no wine.\u201d
\nAnd then we listen to him, and we \u201cDo whatever he tells us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nin Paul\u2019s letter to the Corinthians
\nSome of us are asked to express wisdom,
\nsome of us to heal.
\nWe have all been given different gifts of the Holy Spirit.
\nEach of us are servants at the wedding
\nand Mary says to each one of us,
\n\u201cDo whatever he tells you.\u201d
\nJust as the servants at the wedding assisted Jesus
\nin turning water into wine,
\nwe are to place our spiritual gifts before Jesus
\nand assist him
\nin turning the water of our lives into the wine of salvation.<\/p>\n
\na royal diadem held by our God.
\nNo more shall people call us \u201cForsaken,\u201d or our land \u201cDesolate,\u201d
\nbut we shall be called \u201cMy Delight,\u201d and our land \u201cEspoused.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nthis scripture gives us new hope.
\nYou know, that\u2019s the title of the original Star Wars movie
\nwith Luke Skywalker,
\nA New Hope<\/em>.
\nAnd the new Star Wars movie is called The Force Awakens<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\nJesus is our new hope each day and always.
\nAnd we see in today\u2019s gospel what happens
\nwhen the real force awakens,
\nwe see what happens when the Son of God begins his public ministry
\nand works the first of his miraculous signs.<\/p>\n
\nWe come to receive the consecrated wine, the Blood of Christ,
\nand the consecrated bread, the Body of Christ,
\nthat transforms us week by week,
\ntransforms the water of our lives into the wine of salvation
\nand banishes all feelings of abandonment and desolation.<\/p>\n