January 18

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cana Sunday) John 2/1-12

Picture Mary standing in front of the house where the wedding party was winding down. She had been invited to the party and it was kind of understood that the invitation included her wandering son. She looks down the road and sees Jesus - and with him his crowd of young men, dusty, thirsty, and eager for song and dance. She perceives that there will be a problem. The party is almost over, the wine supply is depleted. While the young couple and their family, like all people from that part of the world at that time, prided themselves on their hospitality and would be delighted to have more guests, they would be acutely embarrassed by the shortage of wine. Jesus had created the problem, it was up to him to do something about it. She knew that he would.

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Once upon a time a young woman invited three hundred and fifty guests to her wedding. Her brother said that he couldn't think of thirty five people to his wedding, but she said that she was a lot more popular had a lot more friends than he did. However, she hoped and prayed that no more than two hundred of them would be able to come. Alas, she had underestimated her popularity. Everyone wanted to come to her wedding. So there were three hundred acceptances. She wasn't worried so much about the caterer, but there was not enough room in the parish hall for that many guests, to say nothing of the orchestra and the dance floor. At Cana Jesus had turned water into wine, but who could enlarge over night the size of the parish hall. Her family went into panic. So did the groom's family. So did the groom. And so, to tell the truth, did the bride. But not for long. We'll not worry about it, she informed everyone. If we ignore the problem and have a good time at the party so will everyone else. Panic is contagious, she added, but so is joy. So let's have an epidemic of joy. Then nothing can possibly go wrong.Wherever there is joy, Jesus is there too, even if you can't see him.