2nd Sunday after Epiphany 14.1.18 The new wine
The miracle of Cana is an extension of the Epiphany, another
ground-breaking revelation of the power of God, working now through the adult
Christ.
Thus begins a series of many public miracles, each of which
sends out a challenge to each person: are you with Me or against Me?
The Jews were divided over Him. Some believed, others always
wanted more proof.
We should not believe too readily every claim of religious
phenomena, but on the other hand we should not be sceptical to the point of
rejecting everything in advance.
We cannot restrict God. It is His creation after all, and He
can intervene at any point and in any way.
So He can turn water into wine, walk on water, make it come
out of a rock, make it part in the middle, and make it go quiet in a storm –
all of which He has done.
Generally God lets the world run on the laws that He has put
in place. But He always has the right and the power to override those laws.
Miracle or not, ordinary or extraordinary, the most important
thing for us is to be in union with Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Are we prepared to put our faith in Him as the one and only Saviour
of the universe, or are we going to try to level Him out with other possible
saviours – thus reducing Him to no more than a source of inspiration?
Other religious figures can be inspiring in places, but they
do not work the miracles that Christ did, especially raising people from the
dead, not least raising Himself! How many people can do that?
And all that He does is good. He does something advantageous
for the people receiving the miracle; and for everyone else He gives a taste of
what salvation is like.
He solves problems, such as today’s shortage of wine; and
even better still He helps people come to faith. This coming to faith is a
greater blessing than whatever the miracle brought about.
Turning water to wine is a symbol of what He is doing for
us. He is enriching us, upgrading us to something better.
From now on this is how we do things around here. This is
the New Covenant taking root.
Human nature itself has been upgraded in Christ’s human
nature. Other elements of creation may be receiving an increase in quality too.
All nature longs for the fulness of Christ’s salvation (cf Rom 8,19-27).
The miracles will come, when needed, and for our good.
In the face of so much power and goodness, we come to take God
seriously.
We come to realize that a miracle is being worked in us, a
miracle of transformation, whereby we become people of charity, and all the
other virtues mentioned in today’s epistle (Rm 12,6-16).
Drink the string drink (that is, receive Him fully, without
condition) and we will ourselves become the new wine, as in perfect.
It has to be a full acceptance. We cannot half-believe, or
half-commit.
He will help us with this. It may not be as quick as the
Cana miracle, but if we show signs of commitment He will build us up in all the
virtues, another miracle of transformation. Why did we leave it till now to become
the best wine?!
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