WEDDING AT CANA: COOPERATORS OF GOD

By Fr. Casmir Odundo

Today is the second Sunday in Ordinary Time. It is the first Sunday after the Christmas season. As such, it is a custom for the Church to offer us for our reflection, the Gospel pericope on the Wedding at Cana after the Sunday of the Baptism of Our Lord. This reason is simply because this miracle (the changing of water into wine at Cana,) together with what we celebrated last Sunday, (the Baptism of Our Lord) and the feast of the Epiphany form a unit. These three are all Epiphanies, so to speak. Jesus is being revealed to the world, his divinity is made manifest to the Magi (Epiphany) again during his Baptism and at the Wedding at Cana.

Now John calls this the first sign that Jesus performed. We know that  John calls miracles that Jesus performed signs. And he elaborates on only seven signs. The first is  the one we reflect on today, (the wedding at Cana) and the last is the restoration of Lazarus. These signs are carefully selected and progressive.

Now was this the first miracle, really? John, as we read in our Gospel passage, mentioned it as the first sign, but was it?  Immediately after this miracle follows the discourse of Jesus with Nicodemus in Chapter three. Now Nicodemus says that Jesus has performed many signs (John 2:3) already. Yet the only sign mentioned previously is the wedding at Cana. This means that John was obviously deliberate in his choice of the miracles of Jesus to include in his gospel. 

Furthermore, John mentions that the wedding happened on the third day. If we follow the sequence of days from chapter one, this third day brings us therefore to the sixth day.  And we know that John’s gospel begins in the same way as Genesis, so this sixth day parallels the sixth day of creation. Interestingly, after this miracle at Cana the sequence of days is no longer mentioned. So this sign of the changing of water into wine is a climax just as creation is also a climax.

I also find it striking that Jesus had time to go for a wedding—this points to his humanity and social life— (incarnation) and the fact that the very first sign happens in the context of a marriage, a family.

Of course the gospel of John is very profound  and every word, every article is important. There are many things that we can say about this passage. About the changing of water into wine, about the presence of Our Lady there together with the disciples and so forth. 

However, these past days I have been meditating one one particular verse in this passage. “....And the head waiter tested the water that had become wine without knowing where it had come from–although the servants who had drawn the water knew…”

My focus was drawn to the role of these servants, who like many other characters in the passage are anonymous. When I reflected upon them, I thought about those unsung heroes of our lives. Like these faithful servants, those cooperators of God and our Lady. I thought about those faithfuls in our parishes who will never perhaps be members of the parish council, but will still be available for whatever service. I reflected on those students who perhaps will never be elected prefects, those who are not top scorers but silently do their best in whatever task they are given. My mind also went to those  brothers of mine, yes those priests, whom Pope Francis says are unknown and hidden in the villages but yet do tremendous work. Those people who often do a lot, but do it mostly behind the scenes. Those who do perhaps the not so pleasing work. The people whose only noise is perhaps, the noise of moving things, of jars, equipment, pots and pans.

These are the servants who are mentioned several times in this passage, whose worth and contribution we will perhaps never know until perhaps something happens.  Had the wine not lacked, perhaps we would have never known about these servants in the Gospel.

It is said that when St. Therese of the Child Jesus died, her superiors and her fellow Carmelites at the convent wondered, “what are we going to say about this sister?” To them then, her life was just ordinary, there was nothing remarkable, peculiar or noticeable. She was just a nun, just a sister in the convent. It is only later after her burial, when her diary was available to the world, that the life of this Little Flower, hidden in the convent,  began to attract world attention. Today she is a Doctor of the Church and the patroness of missions.

Well, St. Therese was like the servants in today's Gospel passage. Those insignificant fellows who work behind the scenes. I suppose it is these servants who went to report to Mary that there is no wine. It is to them that Mary addresses her exhortation, “Do whatever He tells you.” In these servants we see therefore a genuine Marian devotion. They report to Our Lady and they are obedient to her directives. These servants were also obedient to Our Lord when our Lord asked them to fill the jars with water. They did not question…they did not refuse though it seemed strange …and so like the Shepherds in the Christmas story they become the first witnesses of the miracle of Jesus. They got to see Jesus in action behind the scenes.

“And when the head waiter tested the water that had become wine without knowing where it came from although the servants who had drawn their water knew.”

They were indeed cooperators with God and they teach us about the beauty of “a life hidden in Christ.” (Col 3:3). I guess even today, Our Lord is looking for humble men and women, servants, to be his cooperators in working out many miracles for his people.

So we make this prayer to Our Lord, “Lord, make me a cooperator of your grace, teach me the beauty of working behind the scenes, make me a servant, cloth me with humility, hide me in your wounds and use me as your insignificant vessel in service to my brothers and sisters as I strive to imitate our Lady, your masterpiece, your servant and handmaid.” 

The author is a priest of the diocese of Nakuru, Kenya