On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.”
So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
There’s a painting I like at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena called “Marriage at Cana.” It reminds me of the Where’s Waldo? books my nephew loved as a boy. Each page revealed interesting people crowded together in one place. The task was to locate a character named Waldo hidden somewhere in all the activity.
What’s remarkable about this 17th century painting is that Jesus himself is hard to find at first. The canvas is action-packed, but you know he must be there somewhere among all these guests having such a good time. Then you spot him, just off to the side. How differently he could have made his presence to the world known! But embedded in this ordinary human event, his first miracle is a humble act of attentive kindness.
What simple thing could I do today that might show someone I’m paying attention with the love Christ showed at Cana?
—Joe Kraemer, S.J., a Jesuit scholastic of the California province, is studying philosophy at Fordham University.
Being a Christian isn’t just following the commandments,
but means being in Christ, thinking like him, acting like him,
loving like him; it means letting him take possession
of our lives and change them, transform them,
free them from the darkness of evil and sin.
—Pope FrancisPlease share the Good Word with your friends!