Wedding at Cana – 2^nd Sunday In Ordinary Time Year C

In today’s Gospel passage, we see three characteristics of Mary that we can meditate on – her motherhood, her prayerfulness, and her willingness to act.

A good mother anticipates the needs of her children and family before others realize a possible problem, challenge, change of direction, or obstacle up ahead.  The innate sense of a mother is profound and this gift is given to mothers by God in order to be a protector, a person of sensibility, great awareness, and practical.  Mary, therefore, realizes, anticipates the problem of the wine running short and goes to Jesus to see if He can do anything about it.  Jesus can do something about it and He does.  But that is not the point of this reflection, the point here is that Mary knew He could.

Mary’s motherhood is seen when she pays attention to the needs of the newlyweds at Cana, noticing when they have run out of wine for their guests. The wine is a sign of “happiness, love, and plenty,” and that many families and people today have also run out of “wine” due to loneliness, unemployment, illness, and other difficulties.

Being sensitive to the needs of others is something that is really lacking in our lives these days. The secular influence of “I, me and myself” has become more and more prevalent, even in the church. Many people see only their own needs and do not want to think further.

During my novitiate, my novice master tells us constantly to be sensitive to the needs of others and try to anticipate their needs. This is indeed something that is not easy to do but that does not mean we should give up trying. It is even more important when we are involved in ministry. I strongly believe that ministry is not a place where we come just to spend our Sundays or to just socialize and catch up on gossip.

Ministry should be a place where we can openly and honestly share our struggles, our joys, a place we can call a second home. All of us have different challenges in life, different needs but the one common thing is that we need to be loved and appreciated. And this is where the need to be sensitive to the needs of others comes in. The question is, are we willing to try to anticipate the needs of others and paying attention to them instead of hogging all the limelight?

Secondly, Mary exhibits prayerfulness when she “approaches Jesus with confidence” to make known the newlyweds’ problem to Him. The family, and ministry in our case, is a school of prayer where people are reminded that they do not live in isolation but must be concerned about the well-being of loved ones around them. In the family, “we are one and we have a neighbor close at hand.”

We are all familiar with prayer. Whether it is a set prayer formula, the Rosary, Novena etc, we become so accustomed to prayer that sometimes it becomes a routine and mechanical. Even for religious, our hours of prayer can become mechanical and routine. We end up reciting these prayers without even thinking or reflecting on their deeper meaning. On the other hand, we have the situation where we only pray when we encounter difficulties or when we need something from God. God becomes like a vending machine for us. But prayer is much deeper than that. We come as the Legion of Mary Sunday after Sunday and pray together but are we really praying? What is our intention when we pray? St Teresa of Avila would describe prayer as a conversation between friends, do we treat our prayer that way, confident like Mary, that Jesus would hear our prayer?

The most important thing is for us to approach God confidently in our prayers but whether he chooses to answer is up to him. I believe that God answers prayers in 4 ways; a “yes’ and nothing ese, in other words, you get what you asked for and nothing else, a “yes and here is so much more”, he gives us more than what we need, an outright “no” and the last way “no, not now” Whatever it is, we must always be faithful to our prayers no matter what the answer is.

Finally, Mary’s willingness to act is seen as she turns to the servants at the wedding feast and tells them to follow Jesus’ commands. Mary’s words are also directed at us; we should do what Jesus tells us, that is, give our lives in the service of love. We must always remember that the family is a place where people can serve one another in love. All in the family deserve this love; “no one is rejected; everyone is worth the same.”

Action is the fruit of prayer, without action, prayer is empty. Action can take many forms, not necessarily physical in nature. For example, a change of heart towards greater virtue, a conscious desire not to say harsh or unkind words etc. Prayer does not change God, rather, it changes us to be more receptive of God’s will and to become a better person. Are we truly willing to do what Jesus tells us? In reality many people practice the “pick and choose to my liking” mentality. We pray for God’s will and yet sometimes we do what is contrary.

We need to constantly ask ourselves whether we are bearing the fruits of prayer. Our very lives, the way we live will bear witness to that fruit. We do not see or hear much about Mary in the Gospels, but from what we do hear and read, she is continually reflecting on the word of God. It was by this continuous reflection that she was able to carry on serving God.

Let us then continue to be aware of these 3 characteristics, being sensitive to others, prayerfulness and willingness to act and to put it into practice. With God’s grace we can continue to be God’s instrument wherever we are.