Meditation for the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time
“Do whatever He tells you...”
--John 2:1-11
The last words we hear from the Blessed Virgin Mary are
pretty good advice: Do whatever He tells
you. They are spoken in the famous
Wedding at Cana story. And much has been
made of their important advice. Do whatever He tells you. Yes. Good advice, for sure. And because what
happens next is the first miracle, or as John calls them signs, i.e. the first manifestation of Christ’s glory, it would
seem to be pretty important advice too.
In this too familiar story wherein Jesus turns the water
into wine, we are presented with that striking moment when Mary comes to her
Son and says: “They have no wine,” to
which Jesus responds: “Woman, how does
your concern affect me. My hour has not yet come.” (cf. 2:3-4) Mary then
turns to the servants and gives them her advice: Do whatever He tells you. And the servants do it and suddenly there is
more than enough wine and the wine is so good that the steward thinks the hosts
have held back their best wine for the last. This wonderful little story (11 verses) is rich
with theological truths that have been explored and expounded since the days of
the Church fathers. So, I wasn’t imagining
that I would be making any new or important discoveries, however I wanted to
try my hand at it. And yet as I set pondering Mary’s advice, I found myself instead
drawn to something else even more: What
He tells them to do...
Jesus tells them to fill the jars with water, and they do.
They fill them to the brim. Then He
tells them to “draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” (2:8) And that was somehow the part that caught my
attention as I listened Sunday during mass.
That part about the water. Jesus
didn’t ask the servants to do anything magical or dramatic or exotic or even
out of the ordinary. He simply asked
them to fill the jars with water. And
then He asked them to present some of it to the “master of the feast.” It was as if I had heard this story for the
first time. I couldn’t stop thinking
about that water. It’s just water. That is all they bring. And yet it is wine by the time they present
it to the steward (or master). And it isn’t just any wine, it is the good wine (sometimes translated: best).
What does this little detail mean? The water?
I can’t say for certain, but I want to propose
something. Water. It is common and every
day we use it to rinse and wash and flush and soak and moisten and even to
drink... We give it away for free at restaurants. We forget to shut off the sprinkler (sometimes
overnight) and waste it. But, not to
worry—it’s only water. I was thinking about that. How Jesus asks the servants to do something
they probably did every day of their lives: fill the water jars with
water. Nothing special. Just do you work. And they did. They did it with integrity.
They filled those jars to the brim. And
that was all that Jesus required of them and that was how the first sign came
to be; how the Kingdom of God began to be revealed; by some servants doing
their menial everyday chore. But there
is one more piece to that puzzle: they
did it for Jesus.
Do you want to bring about the Kingdom of God? Do you want
to be part of a sign, part of a miracle, a manifestation of God’s glory? You don’t have to be a priest or a nun or a
missionary to a foreign land; just do your work, your ordinary every day work –but
do it for Jesus. Are you a math teacher? Teach for Jesus. You don’t have to proselytize,
just teach each student with love and compassion and kindness. Are you a salesperson? Then treat each of your
customers as if they too were beloved children of God. Are you an executive, a company
leader: then lead with patience and love and gentleness and integrity and
honesty.
Jesus isn’t asking us to go out into the desert and wear
sackcloth and eat locus. He is asking us
to bring our ordinary lives and work and live them and work them for Him. Bring
Him your water: your tears, your sweat, your labor, your rest, your sorrow and
your joy, even your laughter; give it to Him.
Fill the jars full with it. Even up to the brim. If we do that, He will
do the rest: He will turn our water into wine. And not just Boones Farm; we’re
talking something really good. We are all invited to this wedding feast –come.
Bring some water with you. You don’t want to miss this.
