Posted on 01/20/2019 7:28:54 AM PST by Salvation
Biblical Basics about Mother Mary A Homily for the Second Sunday of the Year Msgr. Charles Pope January 19, 2019
Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes
In this Sundays Gospel passage of the wedding feast at Cana, there is a theological portrait of both Mother Mary and prayer. Lets 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 only 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 are these: 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 to her Son for others. There are three qualities to her prayer:
Discernment Mary notices the problem, probably even before the groom and bride do. Indeed, mothers often notice the needs of their children before they do. Why didnt Jesus notice? Surely, as God, He knew, but He waits for us to ask. Yes, God waits for us; He expects us to ask Him. In part this is respect; not all of us are ready to receive all His gifts. This expectation that we ask is also rooted in Gods 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 prays. Rather than merely fretting and being 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 Mary does not tell Jesus what to do, she simply points out 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? When you pray, do you go to the Lord with trust or with your own agenda?
So, Scripture teaches 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 in this fashion.
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. Thus, Jesus is saying that Mary is this woman who was prophesied.
Far from being disrespectful to Mary, Jesus is 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. Jesus also calls her Woman at the foot of the cross; He is the new Adam while Mary is the new Eve, and the tree is the cross. 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. Adams no is reversed by Jesus, who saves us by his yes. Eves no is reversed by Marys yes.
The tenacity of Mary In Greek, Jesus words to his mother are these: τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί, γύναι 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 tension between the interlocutors. On the surface, it would seem that Jesus is resisting his mothers attempt to involve him in this matter. What makes this interpretation odd, though, is that Mary doesnt appear 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.
We can see Marys tenacity 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 Lords power in her life and all but proclaimed a revolutionary new world order.
To be tenacious means to hold fast despite obstacles or discouragements. However we interpret Jesus initial resistance to Marys concern, it is clear that she 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 this 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 try to control or manipulate the outcome. She simply departs and leaves it all to Jesus.
IV. The power of Marys prayer Whatever his initial concerns regarding Marys 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 fromalthough the servers who had drawn the water knewthe 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 can estimate that Jesus produced almost 150 gallons of the best wine. Marys 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. Mary is not merely an intercessor for us, though; she is also a model. 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 Marys 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 as a result of this miracle. This is Marys essential role with reference to Jesus, that she should lead many souls to a deeper union with her Son. Having done so, she leaves us with this instruction: Do whatever he tells you.
Marys role is to hold up Christ for us to see, as she did at Bethlehem for the shepherds (and later the Wise Men) and for Simeon and Anna at the Temple. Her role is to point to His glory as she does here at Cana. Ultimately, Marys role is to hold Jesus 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 Gods grace) to birth Christ in us. As St. Thomas Aquinas says, she is the go-between, the great matchmaker in the mystical marriage of Christ and the soul. Having done that, her final words are these: 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, gleaned from this Gospel passage of the wedding feast at Cana.
Monsignor Pope Ping!
When Jesus was in the Garden all the way to His death on the Cross, He knew that she was his prayer partner.
Tradition indicates that the number 7 was the essence of perfection in the Jewish culture. So when Christ transforms 6 jars, then He shows that he fulfills perfection.
Christ provides 150 gallons of wine, what wedding party would consume 15o + gallons of wine. Christ provided abundance when asked (prayer).
The family wedding was held in Cana, and Jesus wants us to invite Him into our home and be part of our family.
According to Wilpert, an expert scholar in this field of Christian archaeology, the symbolic representations of the catacombs which refer to the Eucharist form three groups, inspired by three of Christ’s miracles, namely the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes, the banquet of the seven Disciples by the Sea of Galilee after the Resurrection, and the miracle of Cana.
Christ provides 150 gallons of wine, what wedding party would consume 150+ gallons of wine?
We were talking about this after Mass this morning. I joked that the poor groom probably wasn’t expecting Jesus to bring all those hard drinking fishermen with him.
From what I understand, though, wedding feasts lasted from 5 to 7 days during the time of Jesus, and there was a sense of a holiday in the village.
But your point is well taken. Jesus did provide 12 extra bushels of food when He multiplied the loaves and fishes.
A lot more than that. It was like 3 days in before the wedding party ran out!
I talked to our priest after mass and said "I would love to take a time machine back to that wedding and bring a couple bottles of that wine back." He told me he often thought the same thing.
Best advise ever given by one human person to another.
what wedding party would consume 150+ gallons of wine?
I have to assume you’ve never had the pleasure of going to an Italian wedding party!
“what wedding party would consume 15o + gallons of wine?”
I have read (and it made complete sense) “why would the uncorrupted Son of God make a corrupted wine as a (first) miracle?”
There is both the uncorrupted wine (juice) and corrupted (fermented) wine. Fermentation (leven) expresses corruption many times in scriptures.
Hail Mary, our mother and queen!
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