Isaiah 62:1-5 / 1 Cor 12:4-11 / John 2:1-12
One of the profound expressions of love is in a wedding celebration.
A wedding is more than just between a man and a woman. It also includes the families, the relatives and friends.
And in the run-up to the day of the wedding, that is a lot of preparation.
Like: the photo-shoot, wedding gifts, booking of the restaurant, food tasting.
But no matter how well the preparations can be, the reality is that nothing is perfect.
Because something will be left undone, or something will be forgotten.
Like, the best man might forget to bring along the wedding rings.
Or, when the bridegroom and his happy band of brothers bring the wedding gifts to the bride’s home, and the bride's mother and aunties make a huge commotion because the roasted pig does not have a tail.
More than just something missing, the tail has a great significance. So, it is like, no tail, no wedding.
The opening line of the gospel says that there was a wedding that Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and His disciples had also been invited.
It was like a communal celebration, and there was food and wine and it was happy occasion.
And then a problem came up - the wine ran out. It was urgent and serious enough for the mother of Jesus to tell Him that they have no wine.
The wine in a wedding celebration is a symbol of joy and hope. No wine means no joy, and maybe even no hope.
And response of Jesus does not sound that encouraging, and He says that His hour has not come yet.
With no wine and a seemingly no response from Jesus, the wedding celebration seems to be turning into an embarrassment.
And in that desperate situation, Mary made that profound statement: Do whatever He tells you.
That is a faith statement, as well as a reminder and a revelation.
Life is not perfect, and we will have to face our desperate situations, as well as disappointments and frustrations.
So, we will have no time, no money, no boyfriend, no girlfriend, no job.
Going on a little further, then it can be, no peace, no love, no joy, no meaning, no future.
For us, life is like a big “no”. And even when we pray, we feel that God is telling us “no”.
But Jesus did not say “no” to His mother, and He will not say no to us either.
And Mary tells us to do whatever Jesus tells us.
So, we pray and wait. And Jesus will turn our disappointments and frustrations into rejoicing and celebration, just as He changed water into wine.
The gospel tells us that the miracle of the water changing into wine is the first of the signs given by Jesus.
A sign points to a meaning and a direction.
Today's gospel reminds us that we have been washed and cleansed by the waters of Baptism.
Jesus now wants to raise us up and change the waters of our washing and cleansing into the wine of our rejoicing.
So yes, there will be wine, there will be peace, there will be joy and there will be love.
There will be meaning, there will be direction.
We only need to remember what Mary told us.
And that is to pray, wait, and do whatever Jesus tells us.