2nd Sunday OT
2016
Fr. Philip Neri, OP
Our Lady of the Rosary, NOLA
Fr. Philip Neri, OP
Our Lady of the Rosary, NOLA
The
party's in full swing. The couple is properly married. The band is
jamming away. The food is hot and plentiful. Then disaster strikes!
They run out of wine. This is how we know this isn't a Catholic
wedding. Mary, knowing what knows about her son, approaches him and
says – probably in that tone that mothers use when they want you to
do something but don't want to ask, “They have no wine.” Jesus
responds, “Woman, how does your concern affect me?” [Every
time I read this, I cringe. Being a good southern boy, if I called my
mama “woman,” I'd regret it. . .after came to.]
Bravely, Jesus continues, “My hour has not yet come.” What?
That's a lame excuse not to help the host with his wine shortage.
Except that it's not an excuse. Jesus' “hour” is the moment he
reveals himself to be the Christ. The second he reveals his identity
as the Christ, the countdown clock to Golgotha starts ticking. Is he
ready to reveal himself just to keep the party going? Is he ready to
start his long, painful walk to the Cross? What's more, are his
disciples ready to follow him? Are we?
We
know that Jesus is ready to reveal himself. He changes six jars of
water into wine. The head waiter is impressed and compliments the
groom for serving his best wine last. About this miracle, John
writes, “Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in
Galilee and so revealed his glory. . .” Changing water into wine is
just the beginning, the first among many signs that reveal the glory
of Christ. Though this story seems straightforward enough, there are
a few odd moments that deserve attention. If his hour had not yet
come, why did he perform a sign that would start his clock ticking? A
clue to answering this question comes in the last bit of the reading.
John writes that Jesus performs this sign to reveal his glory and b/c
of the sign “his disciples began to believe in him.” If his
disciples “began to believe in him,” then we have to think that
they didn't believe in him before he performed this miracle. Setting
aside for a moment how you can be a disciple and not believe in your
teacher, what does it say about the disciples that it takes a miracle
to get their attention? Just how hardhearted are they? How closed
minded do you have to be not to believe in a teacher you've freely
chosen to follow? Maybe they believed him but were just not ready to
follow him to the Cross. . .
Here's
a question for you: how do you prove that you really believe
something? For example, if you say that you believe in God, how do I
know that you believe in God? If belief is just a matter of saying or
thinking, “I believe X,” then I have to believe that you believe.
But what if belief required more than just a matter-of-fact
assertion? What if belief required both a matter-of-fact assertion
about belief AND a demonstration of belief? In other words, when you
say to me, “I believe in God,” my response would have to be, “Oh
really? Show me.” What would you do? How do we act out a belief? I
know this seems like a weird question to ask, but it's a question
that Christians have been asking one another for centuries. During
the Roman persecutions of the Church, Christians identified
themselves by refusing to offer incense to the statues of the
Emperor. Christians serving in the Roman legions were tortured and
executed for treason b/c they would not pledge themselves to Caesar.
Martyrdom is possible today in Nigeria, the Sudan, China, North Korea
just by going to Mass. In the E.U. and increasingly in the US, you
can lose your job, your children, and your business for living the
Christian faith. What if belief required you to sacrifice everything,
up to and including your life? Would you say you believed?
Jesus
knew all too well where he was headed. And he knew what would happen
to those who freely chose to follow him. He never made a secret of
the consequences of believing in him and acting on that belief. He
goes out of his way to detail the ugliness that awaits his followers.
It's almost as if he wants to discourage people from becoming
disciples! Maybe this is why he seems to reply to Mary so rudely, “My
hour has not yet come.” Maybe his love for the disciples causes him
to hesitate before showing them a sign of his glory as the Christ.
Deep down, he wants to spare them the trials of living righteously in
a world in rebellion against his Father's rule. Showing them a sign
of his glory—like changing water to wine—means moving their
hearts and minds from being devoted to him as a holy teacher to
following him as their Savior. That's a big move, a Huge Move! A move
that will eventually lead all of them to martyrdom in blood and fire.
Mary seems to understand her son's hesitation, so she doesn't push
him to reveal himself. Instead, she leaves the decision to him,
saying to the servers only, “Do whatever he tells you.” And b/c
he knows that the mission of the Christ is to die for the sins of the
many, he tells them to bring him some water so that he might begin
his ministry of signs in Cana.
Are
the disciples ready to follow Christ to the Cross? Are we ready to
follow him? That move from being devoted to Jesus as a holy teacher
to following him as a Savior is a big move, a huge move. It's the
difference btw being a hardworking student of a great teacher and
being a fellow-worker in ministry eager to share both his glory and
his tribulations. I think most of us are ready to 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. The disciples don't have this kind of
external support. They are Jewish heretics. Their religious culture
sees them as cultish, separated from family and friends, unclean.
Thus they are nearly overwhelmed when the ascended Christ sends the
Holy Spirit among them at Pentecost, flooding each one of them with
His passionate 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 and
believe by 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. It's not our mission to save the world
with prayer. The world is already saved. It's not our mission to
bring justice and peace among the nations through our good works.
That's done 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.
________________________
Follow HancAquam or Subscribe ----->
