Posted on 01/17/2016 6:42:01 AM PST by Salvation
In the gospel today of the wedding feast at Cana, there is a theological portrait of both Mother Mary and of prayer. Let's look at the Gospel along five lines:
I. The place that Mary has - The text says, There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
A fascinating thing about these opening verses is that Mary almost seems to dominate the scene; the presence of Jesus is mentioned secondarily. St. Thomas Aquinas notes that at Cana, Mary acts as the "go-between" in arranging a mystical marriage (Commentary on John, 98; and 2, 1, n.336, 338, and 343, 151-152). Once the marriage is arranged she steps back; her final words to us are, "Do whatever he tells you."
How many of us has Mary helped to find her Son and to find our place at the wedding feast of the Lamb? I know that it was Mary who drew me back to her Son when I had strayed.
II. The prayer that Mary makes - The text says, When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."
Notice another central role that Mary has: intercessor. She is praying for others to her Son. There are three qualities to her prayer:
Discernment -- She notices the problem, probably even before the groom and bride do. Indeed, mothers often notice the needs of their children before they do. But why didn't Jesus notice? Perhaps He did; surely, as God, He knew. But He waits for us to ask. Yes, God waits for us; He expects us to ask. In part this is respect; not all of us are ready to receive all of His gifts. This expectation that we ask is also rooted in God's teaching that we must learn to depend on Him and to take our many needs to Him. The Book of James says, You have not because You ask not (James 4:2).
Diligence -- Simply put, Mary actually prays. Rather than merely fret and be anxious, she goes directly to her Son out of love for the couple (us) and trust in her Son. She sees the need and gets right to the work of praying, of beseeching her Son.
Deference -- She does not tell Jesus what to do, says simply notes the need: "They have no wine." Mary is not directive, as if to say, "Here is my solution for this problem. Follow my plans exactly. Just sign here at the bottom of my plan for action." Rather, she simply observes the problem and places it before her Son in confidence. He knows what to do and will decide the best way to handle things.
In this way Mary models prayer for us. What wine are you lacking now? What wine do your children and grandchildren lack? Do you notice your needs and the needs of others and consistently pray? Or must things get critical for you to notice or pray? And when you pray do you go to the Lord with trust or with your own agenda?
So the Scriptures teach that Mary is the quintessential woman of prayer, a paragon of prayer. Not only does she intercede for us, she teaches us how to pray.
III. The portrait of Mary - The text says, Woman, how does this concern of yours affect me? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servers, "Do whatever he tells you." Notice three things about this brief dialogue:
The title of Mary -- Jesus calls her "woman." In Jewish culture this was a respectful way for a man to address a woman, but it was unheard of for a son to address his mother that way.
Hence this text stands out as unusual and signals that Jesus is speaking at a deeper level. In the Johannine texts Jesus always calls his Mother, "Woman." This is in fulfillment of Genesis 3:15, which says, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall crush your head, while you strike at his heel. And thus Jesus is saying that Mary is this woman who was prophesied.
Far from being disrespectful to Mary, Jesus is actually exalting her by saying that she is the woman who was prophesied; she is the woman from whose "seed" comes forth the Son destined to destroy the power of Satan.
In this sense Mary is also the new Eve. For Jesus also calls her "Woman" at the foot of the Cross; He is the new Adam, Mary is the new Eve, and the tree is the Cross. And thus, just as humans got into trouble by a man, a woman, and a tree, so now we get out of trouble through the same path. Adam's no is reversed by Jesus, who saves us by his yes. Eve's no is reversed by Mary's yes.
The tenacity of Mary - In Greek, Jesus' words to his mother are, τί á¼Î¼Î¿á½¶ καὶ σοί, γÏναι - ti emoi kai soi, gunai (What to me and to thee, Woman?). When this phrase appears elsewhere in the Scriptures (e.g., Gen 23:15; 1 Kings 19:20) it usually indicates some kind of tension between the interlocutors. On the surface, it would seem that Jesus is expressing resistance to the fact that His mother striving to involve Him in this matter. What makes this interpretation odd, though, is that Mary doesn't seem to interpret Jesus' response as resistance.
Perhaps there was something in the tone of voice that Jesus used, or perhaps there was a look between them that resolved the tension, and evoked Jesus' sympathy for the situation. Whatever the case, Mary stays in the conversation with Jesus and overcomes whatever tension or resistance existed. In this we surely see her tenacity.
This tenacity comports well with the tenacity she showed at other times. Though startled by the presence of the angel Gabriel, she engaged him in a respectful but pointed conversation in which she sought greater detail. Mary also hastened to visit her cousin Elizabeth, and in the dialogue that followed she proclaimed a Magnificat that was anything but a shy and retiring prayer. She joyfully acknowledged the Lord's power in her life, and all but proclaimed a revolutionary new world order.
To be tenacious means to hold fast in spite of obstacles or discouragements. However we interpret Jesus' initial resistance to Mary's concern, it is clear that Mother Mary does not give up; she expects the Lord to answer her favorably. This is made clear by her confident departure from the conversation, when she turns to the stewards with the instruction, "Do whatever he tells you."
The trust of Mary - She simply departs, telling the stewards, "Do whatever he tells you." She does not hover. She does not come back and check on the progress of things. She does not seek to control or manipulate the outcome. She simply departs and leaves it all to Jesus.
IV. The power of Mary's prayer - Whatever his initial concerns regarding Mary's request, Jesus goes to work. Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from--although the servers who had drawn the water knew--the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now."
If we do the math, we may confidently presume that Jesus produced almost 150 gallons of the best wine. Mary's prayer and tenacity produced abundant results.
Sometimes the Lord tells us to wait so that He can grant further abundance. Scripture says, But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).
The Catholic tradition of turning to Mary and regarding her as a special intercessor with particular power is rooted in this passage. But Mary is not merely an intercessor for us; she is also a model for us. Following her example, we should persevere in prayer and go to the Lord with confident expectation of His abundant response. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16).
V. The product of Mary's prayer - The text says, Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory and his disciples began to believe in him.
At the conclusion of this gospel is the significant result that many began to believe in the Lord on account of this miracle. This is Mary's essential role with reference to Jesus, that she should lead many souls to a deeper union with her Son. And having done so, she leaves us with this instruction, "Do whatever he tells you."
Mary's role is to hold up Christ for us to see, as she did at Bethlehem for the shepherds (and later the Wise Men) and as she did for Simeon and Anna at the Temple. Her role is to point to His glory as she does here at Cana. And ultimately her role is to hold His body in her arms at the foot of the cross after He is taken down.
As a mother, Mary has a special role in the beginnings of our faith, in the infancy and childhood of our faith. The text says that many "began to believe." In Greek grammar, this phrase is an example of an inceptive aorist, often used to stress the beginning of an action or the entrance into a state. Thus Mary has a special role in helping to initiate our faith, in helping (by God's grace) to birth Christ in us. As St. Thomas Aquinas say, she is the "go-between," the great matchmaker in the mystical marriage of Christ and the soul. Having done that her final words are, "Do whatever he tells you." And while she may draw back a bit, she continues to pray for us.
Here, then, are some biblical basics about Mother Mary, from this gospel of the wedding feast at Cana.
I don't care what historical figures claimed it.
Scripture, the words breathed out by the Holy Spirit, tell us otherwise.
Men can be deceived and lie.
God can not. Ever.
Bingo......
There's a difference between meditating on and praying to JESUS when you're doing something else, like driving or the dishes, or ironing, and claiming that you can focus on two people simultaneously.
Focusing on Mary takes it off Jesus and gives to Mary what is rightly due to Jesus.
Scripture exhorts us to pray without ceasing. That means that God recognizes that there are times that we'll be doing other things while we pray.
However, praying to Mary is NOT praying to God, especially confirmed by the fact that Catholics claim they are praying to her to get her to move God to do something for them.
In that case, focusing on Mary is taking time that rightly belongs to God, away from Him.
So are you now setting up a standard by which to judge how spiritual a person is based on the number of hours they spend doing something the way you think they should?
Sometime about 140 yrs+- after John was written.
Am I to understand we had a gap of 140 years before this belief arose?
Actually the use of brothers and sisters is more faithful to the Greek..
Read this very carefully......
I. DON’T. CARE. WHAT. MEN. SAY.
I care what the Spirit of God tells us in Scripture.
You can name drop all you want as if you think that means anything to me or has any influence on what I think.
I don’t follow men, and I especially don’t follow them when they are proved wrong by Scripture.
And the SPIRIT tells us that Joseph told Mary AS HIS WIFE, that he did not know her until AFTER she gave birth to Jesus, that Jesus had brothers and sisters and goes on to name the brothers by name.
Scripture is posted once already and it will not benefit anyone who chooses to ignore it to post it again.
Mary needed to be virgin at the time of Jesus’ birth. After that, it didn’t matter in the least. There was no prophecy that she needed to be perpetually virgin and nothing that indicates that she was. She did not sin by having sex with Joseph, even though the thought gives Catholics the vapors.
Salvation,
I know your religion teaches Mary remained a virgin, but Scripture does not.
Mary and Joseph were godly people, married and fulfilling God’s instructions to enjoy sex. There is nothing in Scripture that should ever make anyone think otherwise.
Dear Mary wasn’t made into a demigoddess until syncretic paganism entered the church.
Best.
You said once you were a Protestant...Now I get it...
“Mary needed to be virgin at the time of Jesus’ birth. After that, it didn’t matter in the least. There was no prophecy that she needed to be perpetually virgin and nothing that indicates that she was. “
Absolutely true and worth repeating.
I would say, the internet takes more time away from Jesus than does Mary.
And everyone who blathers on and on about Mary [both sides], should really take a long look at the time they are wasting doing so.
I’m not on Free Republic much anymore. Those characters [taking the place of quotes] that get thrown into articles drives me wacky, so I’m sort of glad they are there; I’ve gotten more accomplished, including prayer!
You might be on to something there.
They constantly argue over 'brother' when there is no argument...
But they completely ignore 'sister' which can only be translated as sister...Mary clearly had more children besides Jesus...The bible proves the Catholic religion wrong again...
ἀδελφηÌ
adelphē
ad-el-fay'
Feminine of G80; a sister (natural or ecclesiastical): - sister.
Thank you for the idea of a new tagline, perhaps now you all might consider actually discussing the thread topic rather than making me the subject.
(If you throw a rock into a pack of wild dogs, the one you hit will always holler.)
I’ve seen a lot of “hollering” among the pagans when we criticize the abomination of the blasphemous cult of Mary-worship.
Do you ever see Protestants post threads with titles like, The Perpetual Fertility of Mary, or Mary Was A Sinner Just Like The Rest Of Us??? Nope, you don't...
This posting of blather is a one way deal and Protestants spend their time defending the dignity of Mary as well as the only mediator between God and man, the Lord Christ Jesus...There is no blather in defending the words of God...
If Catholics wouldn't post these fairy tales, we wouldn't have to come to the aid of the truth of the scriptures on those matters...
Very nice observation!
Our Lord Jesus equates anyone who does the will of the Father as His brother, sister or mother. There is no special reserve status for Mary. The only designation missing is "Father". That is because we have only ONE Father-God the Father. And that is why we should call no one "Father".
We have been very fortunate at our parish to have had priests whose primary focus is on God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Today’s Mass was a good example. The second reading today was from 1 Corinthians 12, about the gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit. In his homily, the priest reflected on how the readings were about the many blessings that God gives us. The good wine that Jesus provided for the wedding guests and the gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit. I don’t think he even mentioned Mary.
May the peace of the Lord be with you,
Rich
That's 'cause he wants to avoid the personal attach.
This way he can bad mouth all he wants.
You can only tell them the truth.
Whether they choose to believe it or not is out of anyone’s control but theirs.
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