We as believers actually have the opportunity to have continuous religious epiphanies as we grow in our faith. This is especially so when certain things that happen don’t offer a logical reason such as someone being cured of cancer even though medical science cannot explain why or how. We begin to question what else could cause such a cure and thoughts of faith come into play because of the many cures Jesus illustrated in all sorts of conditions. Our faith begins to clarify the importance of God’s love for us in times of difficulty and how what He did and does brings joy and peace into our lives.
In our first reading, it is the third writer of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah who writes about love, mercy and forgiveness God has for Israel after spending 70 years in exile in Babylon to now return home. God restores his relationship with the Jewish nation by reinstating them as the chosen people and naming Jerusalem “My Delight” and the land “Espoused.” “… as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.”
St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians wants the people of that land, and all of us, to understand that all the gifts we have, including spiritual, come from God, not through our own merit. As everything else that God gives us, they are given out of love to bring joy to us and others to whom we reach out.
It is in St. John’s Gospel that this love, peace and joy come together in the introduction of Jesus as the Messiah, His ability to transform water into wine and His bringing of life into this world through relationship with His Father and brotherhood for all.
Reflecting on the Marriage at Cana in our Gospel, Marriage in the Catholic Church is the only Sacrament in which the priest or deacon are the official witnesses rather than the presiders. The couple commit their lives to one another through sacred vows that promise they come to this rite of their own free will, to be faithful to one another as long as they both shall live and to accept children lovingly from God and to raise them in the Catholic faith.
Does this seem too structured and/or restrictive? Maybe? But we need to remember that all the Sacraments are established by God to bring the fullness of God’s love, joy and peace; in essence: To give life. Isn’t that the connection with our readings and Gospel today? We ask God to bless us in our faith journey because we believe He has the answers to life’s difficulties and with that we grow to become whole in our spirituality.
St. Clement I, pope, in a letter to the Corinthians wrote: “God’s blessing must be our objective, and the way to win it our study.” He continues: The patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) “owed everything to God’s will. So likewise with us, who by His will are called in Christ Jesus. We are…justified by faith, the one means by which God has justified men from the beginning.”
Jesus came to earth in obedience to God’s will so that believers and non-believers created by God would understand the goodness with which we are blessed in our everyday lives. Through our free will be make the decision to follow or not. If we do, we are saved. If we do not, we are condemned.
To further quote St. Clement I, “We must recognize, therefore, that all upright men have been graced by good works…This should inspire us with a resolute determination to do His will and make us put our whole strength into the work of living a Christian life.” Hopefully, this is the kind of epiphany we will continue to realize as we journey on the path of faith.
Reading 1: Isaiah 62: 1-5
Reading 2: First Corinthians 12: 4-11
Gospel: John 2: 1-11
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