Homily: Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

January 19, 2025

My dear brothers and sisters, the gospel reading of today centers on the first recorded miracle of Jesus; the changing of water into wine at Cana in Galilee. This miracle at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and as we are still on the early days of the New Year has a deep lesson for us that we really need to make Jesus and His mother Mary our friends as we journey through the year. We have to invite them to be by our side as we march on in this journey of life. Pope St John Paul II in the year 2002 with his apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae introduced the luminous mystery. He included this first miraculous manifestation of Jesus at the wedding at Cana in Galilee as the second luminous mystery, calling on us to reflect always on this mystery to see how partnering with Jesus and Mary can shield us from both temporal and everlasting disgrace.

First the success story of this couple that had their wedding at Cana in Galilee started when they became friends with the holy family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. As such at their wedding ceremony, both Jesus and Mary were present. Their special day would have turned into a day of shame for lack of wine because their guests were not invited for a funeral visitation or Lenten fasting and abstinence, no, they were invited for feasting and celebration with abundance of delicious food and choice wine. The worst is that the couple were not even aware that they were already heading to doom, however, the disgrace that was looming was averted, why? Jesus was present, Jesus was on the boat. Jesus was part of their life story. Brothers and sisters, Jesus has to be present in our lives, we have to include Jesus in our life story. When Jesus is on the ship of our lives, the storm may toss the ship up and down but be calm because Jesus will calm the storm. In such moments Psalm 46:10 tells us “be still, and know that I am God.”

This miracle tells us much about the bond between the Blessed Virgin Mary and her Son Jesus. Even at that inchoate stage of His public ministry, Mary was not at all in doubt about the divinity and the powers of her Son Jesus. This her statement really speaks volumes; ‘Son they have no wine,’ Mary knew too well that Jesus her Son was not a CEO in any LCBO shop neither did Jesus own any bear store, yet Mary went immediately and told the attendants, ‘do whatever he tells you to do.’ So, Mary knew too well the capacity of her divine Son Jesus, she knows that Jesus can never say no to her requests. It is for this reason that the Church encourages us to pray through her for her maternal intercession: the holy rosary and other Marian devotions. You see the new wine that came from Jesus through Mary’s intercession became the best wine. What life on earth will be better than a life which has a room for Jesus and His mother Mary?

Even till our own time, sometimes Mary leaves heaven to come to us to tell us to do whatever her Son Jesus tells us to do. She can never deceive us. Her apparitions at Fatima, Lourdes, even in the North American soil of Guadalupe in Mexico all bear eloquent testimonies to her concern for us. Just the way she saw this couple threading on the path to disgrace and she approached her divine Son Jesus to rescue them, this is Mary for us till today. How painful it is when the very persons who are on the part to everlasting shame are happily moving towards eternal disgrace, they are not interested with Mary’s assistance, neither do they even need the best wine from Jesus. Brothers and sisters, we must make a U turn if we are not on the right track.

Finally, as far back as when Jesus was on earth, a couple knew the importance of the presence of Jesus on their wedding. Jesus needs to be part of our marriage through the sacrament of Holy Matrimony so that our family life will have the taste of the best wine, so that graces of God will flow to us and disgrace averted. It does not suffice for Catholics to tie the knot elsewhere; Jesus has to be part of the process through the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony for God’s abundant blessings and graces on our family.