2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

To All the Parishioners of the Epiphany of the Lord
Jesus’ First Public Act and the Inaugural Sign of God’s Presence in the World through Him (Changing Water into Wine: John 2:1-11)

He, who at Cana changed water into wine, has transformed his Blood into the wine of true love and thus transforms the wine into his Blood. In the Upper Room he anticipated his death
and transformed it into the gift of himself in an act of radical love.
His Blood is a gift, it is love, and consequently it is the true wine that the Creator was expecting. In this way, Christ himself became the vine, and this vine always bears good fruit: the presence of his love for us which is indestructible. (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, October 2005)

Dear parishioners, the story of Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana, I think, contains one of the most powerful messages in all of Scripture.

The text (John 2:1-11), itself gives us two hints that suggest this. First, the story happens on the Third Day. What does that make you think of? What happens on the third day? Resurrection, a new life, a new beginning, a rebirth. The second hint is: There was a Wedding. Again, this is about a new life: two people coming together to create and live a new life, to change and be changed by each other, and to open themselves to unknowable possibilities and an unforeseeable future. We are called to be men and women of creative hope.

John does not record what happens as being a miracle, but a sign. In fact, John does not call anything a miracle in his Gospel. Instead, he does record seven signs in his Gospel, and the changing water into wine is the first. This can only be intentional as it happened in front of the servants, the least important people, at the wedding. John sees it as a sign for everyone, something that would inform people about what they might expect from this man from Nazareth, something that would point them towards a deeper meaning. The servants at the wedding saw water turned into the finest wine. John saw a man who, in this first sign, declared himself as an agent of transformation, namely: Jesus of Nazareth.
Nevertheless, regardless of how it feels or what we think about it, the day the wine runs out is actually the beginning of a miracle. Christ does not simply refill our glasses. He transforms our lives, turning water into wine. It is, after all, the third day, the day of resurrection and new life. All that was colorless in our lives, is now vibrant red. All that had no taste now awakens the taste buds on the tongue. All that had no fragrance now has a full bouquet. All that had no life is now fermenting, active, and alive inside us.

Dear friends, it is on that third day that our lives are filled to the brim with the good wine; intoxicating us with the life of God, inebriating us with the blood of Christ, and leaving us under the influence of the Holy Spirit. That is what happened at the wedding in Cana and it has never ceased happening. Every moment of every day Christ pours himself into the empty jars of our lives. He is the good wine; the finest wine, abundant and never ending. Every time that good wine is poured out into our lives we are changed and transformed. We are brought out of error into truth, out of sin into righteousness, out of death into life (Book of Common Prayer, p. 368).

They Have No Wine (John 2:3)
Dear Epiphany fraternity, it is with those words that Mary, Jesus’ mother speaks a truth about our lives, a truth that at some point we all experience. There comes a day when the wine gives out. The glass is empty, and the party is over. On that day we feel that life seems empty and dry. There is no vibrancy or vitality. Nothing is growing or fermenting within us and our world is colorless and tasteless. The bouquet of life is absent, and we are living less than fully alive.

Those words spoken by Mary hold before us some serious questions and wonderings. Why has
the wine of our own life given out? What relationships have run dry? What parts of us remain empty?
Each one of us could tell a story about the day the wine gave out. It might be about the death of a loved one or the loss of a friendship or marriage. It may be the day our life changed through illness or disability. Some people will speak about their search for love and acceptance, others may describe their thirst for meaning and significance. Some will tell of their guilt, disappointments, or regrets and many stories I am sure will be about the fear of what is or what might be. People may also talk about stories of failure and self-doubt. Some will describe a longing and desire for something they cannot name or describe. Or even a storyline of unanswered prayer, doubts, or questions. These are not all stories from the past, however. Some of us are living those stories today.

Yet despite our best efforts, good intentions, and hard work, it seems that the wine of our life is always giving out. No matter how often we refill our glass it always seems to end up empty again. There is never enough wine. As the days and weeks wear on we become increasingly aware that we cannot replenish the wine from our own resources.

They Have No Wine, Mary said. The transformation of our lives, dear friends, always begins when the wine gives out. Whatever concerns you brought with you to Church today, those concerns that are the empty jars in your life, if they matter to you, they matter to God. If you pay attention to them, who knows, you might find that they are the areas of your life where God is turning water into wine. That is the finest wine which can overflow into the lives of others. This miracle happens in everyday of our lives.

In our Christian life, we come across people who have one foot in the Church and one foot in the world or people that just never even stepped in the Church whatsoever. They are chasing after the world for some sort of joy and happiness thinking they are going to find it. All the while, they come up feeling empty and dry or enslaved to different addictions and different behaviors with no real joy and they wonder what is going on there. Jesus, in the meantime, is standing there saying, “repent.” Jesus is ready to offer them the Wine of True Love.

Dear parishioners, John was writing this story down some 70 years after Jesus was crucified. He’d had a lot of time to meditate on the life of Jesus and the effect that it had had on the people around him. What he’s saying to his readers and to us is simply this. That wherever Jesus went and whenever he came into lives it was like turning water into wine. Wherever lives were flat and lifeless, he brought sparkle and color. Into lives that were imperfect he breathed his perfection. For lives that were incomplete he brought wholeness.

It is a story that we need to keep reminding ourselves about. In those periods of our lives where we seem so far from God, when the everyday cares and worries of life seem to get on top of us and so easily distract our thoughts. Those are the moments that we need to remember Mary. She had a moment like that but knew instinctively who to turn to, into whose hands to place that burden. It wasn’t too clear what the outcome might be but she was confident enough to know that they were reliable hands at work, and whatever Jesus would do it would be the right thing and we ought to obey Jesus.

I wish and pray that every family of our Epiphany parish hand their lives over to Jesus, as Mary did. Only then can Jesus take those water pots and turn water into Wine of True Love.
I wish everyone a fruitful meditation and prayer.

Fraternally Your Pastor,
Fr. John Peter Lazaar, SAC