2nd Sunday OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
OLR, NOLA
The miracle at Cana tells us a lot about Jesus and Mary. That he is
an obedient son, and that she is a generous guest. That he is
well-aware of who and what he is – the Messiah. And that she knows
this too. This miracle also tells us something about who and what we
are, or who and what we can become. In fact, every miracle Christ
performs to demonstrate his identity and mission can tell us
something about who and what we are as his followers. If we
follow Christ, then we participate in his identity and mission,
making us, each one of us, a Christ. Now, I'm not saying that we can
all go out and perform miracles. Or that we can all yell at random
people on the street and initiate them into the Church. What I am
saying is that when we faithfully follow Christ, we grow in holiness
and become more and more perfect in how we love. This means that as
we grow in the perfection of Christ, we ourselves are better able to
help others go from the waters of baptism to the wine/blood of the
Eucharist. How do we do this? How do we – imperfect as we are –
help someone else to faithfully follow Christ? We have to be more
than students of Jesus, the teacher. We must see him as our Savior.
That
move from being devoted to Jesus as a holy teacher to following him
as a Savior is a big move. It's the difference btw being a student of
a great teacher and
being a fellow-worker eager to share both his glory and his trials. I
think most of us can say that we're ready to follow Christ. In
theory, the whole scenario looks good, even healthy: repentance,
forgiveness, penance, love, mercy, hope, good works, all tied
together in the sacraments and supported by a vibrant religious
culture. Think about the disciples. They have to make this same move.
But their circumstances were very different. They are Jewish
heretics. Their religious culture sees them as unclean, separated
from family and friends,. Thus they are nearly overwhelmed when the
ascended Christ sends the Holy Spirit among them at Pentecost,
flooding each one of them with His fire for spreading the Word. In
their darkest hour, they are given Divine Love, unmediated by law or
prophets, undiluted by age or tradition. We are given this same Love:
the Spirit to believe, trust, love, show mercy, do good works, to
repent, and grow in righteousness. Like the disciples, we too come to
believe that Jesus is the Savior and we show our faith in word and
deed.
Our
challenge as faithful followers of Christ becomes clearer and clearer
every day. It's not our mission to defeat the world with holiness.
The world is already defeated by Christ. It's not our mission to save
the world with prayer. The world is already saved by Christ. It's not
our mission to bring justice and peace among the nations through our
good works. Christ did that too. Our mission is to live our lives
as witnesses to all that has already been done by Christ. To live
holy lives b/c the world is defeated. To live prayerful lives b/c the
world is saved. To live lives doing good deeds b/c Christ's justice
and peace lives already in us. We live lives of holiness and prayer,
and doing good works not to change the world but to show the world
all that has already been done for it. Christ gives one sign after
another that shows his glory and the glory of the Father among us.
All we can do is point to that glory with word and deed, and urge the
world, “Do whatever he tells you.” That's enough to get us close
to the Cross. But to get all the way to the Cross, we must be ready
and willing to sacrifice everything. To show the world the
glory of Christ, we must believe – by word and deed – and be
ready to die for love of him.
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