2nd Sunday After Pentecost Homily

The Wedding Feast of Cana delivers Christ’s first miracle to us. This miracle is most miraculous in nature because it was exclaimed “why have you kept the good wine until now.” To understand the importance of this statement we must understand that wedding parties in ancient times ran for many days and thus keeping wine on hand for the entirety of the celebration was seen as a necessity. It was common to give the good wine first and the cheaper wine last because people remember that which they received at first and as they keep drinking they begin to care less about the taste. This statement says that the miracle in which Jesus had enacted was pretty amazing because He had given them a wine which was truly good and thus better then anything that they had received prior to this.

We must remember that everything falls short of God and His abundant love for us. We often get caught up in the busyness of the world and lose sight of this reality. The Wedding Feast of Cana serves as a reminder that nothing is mundane with God. Even if we feel nothing when we pray or come to the Mass, may we not lose sight of the abundance of God’s love for us. The totality of God’s relationship with us serves as a reminder of God’s abundant love which compared to everything else we endure good or bad that this love will never pass away.

As we trudge through this life and the many trials which may come our way may we fear not in turning towards the Blessed Mother’s intercession. In our Gospel the needs of the people were brought to Mary and she in return brought them before her Son. Through her intercession the prayers and petitions of the people were answered. When we feel like out faith is at a standstill and there is no hope for us may we remember her love and concern. She desires to intercede for us because she desires to bring us to know her Son in order that we can come to love Him more and more with each passing day. Through Mary’s intercession we come to see that the works of God are truly wonderful because they are filled with love.

From this miracle Christ manifests Himself to the world as God made man. From this miracle we see a foreshadowing of the Eucharist. In the Eucharist Christ pours Himself out for us in the gift which is His Body and Blood. This Heavenly Food of which we partake at the Mass is a food which will never pass away; because what we are receiving is the greatest food in which one can receive for it is the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ. We make so many things of this world a priority, but it should be the Eucharist which is made our priority.

We are instructed at the conclusion of the Mass: “Go forth, the Mass is ended.” This is not to say that we can leave and forget about what we have received. Instead we are being sent out into the world to live a life of faith, a life which is fueled by Christ, a life which places the Eucharist at the center.

There is no greater gift which we can discover. May we therefore discover Christ who has come to dwell among us. May all the angels and Saints of Heaven, especially the Blessed Mother, assist us in making this a reality. At the Wedding Feast of Cana the wine which Christ had left was the greatest wine which was received; and thus a life which is built on Christ and obedience to His commandments will always reveal this life giving reality.