The Miracle of Faith

A Reflection on the Gospel for January 20th, 2019:
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

John 2:1-11
1 On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2 Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. 3 When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." 4 And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come." 5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 6 Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. 8 He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it. 9 When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

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This Christmas my mom got a new iPad, and she asked me to set it up for her. Although happy to do this for her, I told her she should ask my son because he knows just as much (if not more) about this kind of thing than myself. I knew this was a task he could do while helping his grandmother at the same time. As a parent, I’ve really appreciated times like this when I can now begin to turn to my kids for help, and to identify where their strengths lie.
 
At the wedding in Cana, Mary is there with Jesus. When the host runs out of wine to serve the guests, Mary turns to Jesus. She knows He can help. It’s worth noting that this is the only time in the Bible when we hear Mary giving a command. She says, “Do whatever he tells you”.
 
This is what Mary does always, she leads us to her son and tells us to rely on Him. Her fiat, or “Yes” to God, leads us to the birth of our Saviour. Her role in salvation history always points us to Jesus.
 
The miracle of Jesus turning water into wine was Jesus’ first miracle. I love how Mary was present in this moment as she introduces us to her son. This was the disciples’ first encounter with the supernatural gifts of Jesus. This was the first time He displayed for the people who He is as the Son of God.
 
When we turn to Jesus in prayer, we too are asking for His supernatural intervention in our lives. We are asking Jesus, in His divinity, to intervene in our humanity. And when we turn to Mary in prayer, we are asking for her intercession to Jesus.

"When we turn to Jesus in prayer, we... are asking for His supernatural intervention in our lives.
We are asking Jesus, in His divinity, to intervene in our humanity."

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Since this was Jesus’ first miracle, I don’t expect Mary knew at the time how Jesus would help with the shortage of wine, but she did know Jesus would help. She was willing to trust in her son and ask the servants at the wedding to also trust Him. And they did. They did every task Jesus asked them to do, and as a result, He used their humanity and turned their actions into a miracle. This makes me think about the role we are called to play in Jesus’ miracles. Jesus didn’t just make wine appear. He called the servants into action; He asked them to step out in faith before the miracle was performed. Jesus asks us too, to take that step of faith before the miracle. If you’ve ever attended prayer training at Saint Benedict parish, you’ll recall hearing that if we don’t pray for miracles, they don’t happen. But when we do pray, we know miracles sometimes come of it.
 
Just as I’ve grown to trust and rely more on my children, Mary tells us to do the same with Jesus. Like Mary, we don’t necessarily know how He will answer our prayers, but Jesus asks us to take that leap of faith and trust in His outcome.

​Tammy LeBlanc

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