And the Mother of Jesus Was There...

The Catholic Liturgy for the 2^nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Jan. 20, 2019. Gospel – John 2:1-11. Theme: And the Mother of Jesus Was There…

This past week, on January 18 to be exact, we started the Catholic Church’s annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. It will end on Jan. 25, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, the great Apostle of Church Unity.  The division of the Body of Christ into thousands of different denominations, is a scandal to the world. How can we say – and be believed - that there is only one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism…when in reality we give visible witness to such a broken and scattered Body of Christ?

Because of this division there are many Christians today who have lost out on the full content of Jesus’ teachings. One of the biggest misunderstandings is the important role of Our Lady and of asking for her intercession. Some Christians will often exclaim to us Catholics, “Where in the Bible does it say its ok to pray to Mary?”  Well, today’s gospel is the Bible-based foundation for our devotion to Mary and the reason why we ask the Mother of Jesus to pray for us. If we reflect upon this story of the wedding at Cana, I think we can see three things that characterize Mary’s maternal intercession for us and help us to increase our confidence in her prayers.

First, Mary becomes aware of the problem, of the need a hand.  Sometimes we might think that what we wish to pray for is too trivial or ordinary to present to the Mother of God. But Cana shows us that this is not so, that nothing is beyond or beneath her motherly concern. And obviously even our most basic mundane needs are of interest to Jesus, because look at what He does for the wedding couple. Who would’ve guessed that the very first miracle God would work upon becoming human would be to turn water into wine so that a wedding party would not be spoiled!

Second, we see that Mary prays. And she prays with loving concern and diligence. She goes directly to Jesus and presents our needs as if they were her own. Can’t you just picture her there, informing Him of the situation and then standing at His side, like a typical mother, not budging until she gets a reply? And when Jesus mentions that it might not be the right time to work this miracle, Mary doesn’t barter or reinforce her point. She knows her Son. She knows what kind of heart beats within his chest. She simply tells the waiters to get ready for action. That shows us a mother’s confidence in her Son and a Son’s love for His mother.

Finally, Mary speaks with Jesus on our behalf with humility and obedience. She does not tell Jesus what to do; she does not argue the case in point. She simply informs Him that “they have no wine” and awaits His plan, His decision. Mary knows her place. He is after all God. And she is, after all, but a creature of God, even though she is His earthly mother. She has faith and confidence that He knows the best thing to do and will do it. When we have a need, we can bring it to the Mother of Jesus and we can do so with great confidence precisely because she is His mother and Jesus listens to her request.

So now that we have pondered what Mary did when the wine was lacking, I think we should ask ourselves: what am I lacking in my life that Mary needs to talk to Jesus about? What do my children or grandchildren or friends lack for which I can ask Mary’s intercession?

And while we are at it, let’s also ask Mary to pray for Church unity. She is, after all, Mother of the Church, Mother of all Christians. And what mother doesn’t want to see her children united and happy?  Let’s also ask her to pray for healing in the Body of Christ, so torn apart these days by the sins of some of our leaders. Let us ask her to help us make a reality the prayer for unity which Jesus spoke on the night before He died: “Father may they be one in us, just as you and I are one, so that there will be just one flock under one shepherd, so that they world may believe that you sent me.”

W