John 2:1-11 (NRSV)

Read: 

John 2:1-11 (NRSV)

'On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.' 4And Jesus said to her, 'Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.' 5His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.' 6Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to them, 'Fill the jars with water.' And they filled them up to the brim. 8He said to them, 'Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.' So they took it. 9When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10and said to him, 'Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.' 11Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Think:

Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 

I remember last year at this time my husband and I had already agreed that this reading wouldn't be read at our wedding.  We ought to have - the wedding was less than a week away.  But we had struggled with the readings, especially the Gospel because even being seminarians we couldn't figure out how Jesus attending a wedding would make marriage a sacrament.  It wasn't like Jesus presided over the ceremony, or was even one of the attendants.  He was just a guest.  It seems that the family (not even the bride and groom) only got interested in Jesus when the wine ran out, when he could do something for them.  But I guess the truth of the matter is that he needed to be invited in order to do something for the bridegroom, he needed to be there to do this sign.  It might not have been his time, but he was there and he did what he could to make the event run smoothly.  So was Jesus just the David Tuterra of his day?  The ultimate wedding planner, the magic man who could turn water into wine and save the day, sounds like someone you would want to invite to every event, not just weddings.  We don't hear anything else about this couple, or if Jesus was then invited to 15 other weddings that year, but you do find that after this his disciples believed in him.   

So my thoughts today come back to the question that I had from the beginning- why is this reading so often used as the justification for marriage as a sacrament?  If all it takes is Jesus to be invited to an event, to attend, and to act at an event to make it a sacrament then I am sending him an embossed prayerful invitation to come into every day, every act, every moment of my life, so that I might live fully into my belief in Him. 

Prayer:

O Lord Jesus, come into my life, in my relationships with my husband, my family, my friends and those who I hardly know.  Lord Jesus work in these relationships as you did at the wedding in Cana, make your presence known in and amongst us.  Help us to invite you not only into our celebrations but into our darkest places, remind us that you only have to be asked and we only have to welcome you in order to welcome  peace, love and joy into our lives.  Amen

Contemplation:
15 Minutes of Contemplative Prayer