Gospel Reading: 
John 2:1-11

"There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.  When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.'  And Jesus said to her, 'Woman, how does your concern affect me?  My hour has not yet come.'  His mother said to the servers, 'Do whatever he tells you.'  Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons.  Jesus told them, 'Fill the jars with water.'  So they filled them to the brim.  Then he told them, 'Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.'  So they took it.  And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from - although the servers who had drawn the water knew - the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, 'Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.'  Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him."

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One hundred fifty gallons of wine.  I need to get myself invited to a Jewish wedding!  This is Year C in our liturgical cycle, and we expect in Ordinary Time to hear from St. Luke, but today we hear from St. John.  Usually it’s Matthew, Mark, Luke in years A, B, and C, respectively, and we hear from John’s gospel during parts of Christmas, but mostly in Lent and Easter time.  But this is a really important gospel, so the Church put it in this year for us to hear, this first miracle at the wedding feast at Cana.  What is interesting is they couldn’t have used Marks’s version of this story because it doesn’t exist.  Only in St. John’s gospel is this story told.  It’s not told in Matthew, Mark, or Luke.  Now Matthew, Mark, and Luke are very similar; as a matter of fact, they’re called the “Synoptic Gospels” because of the way they read and they’re sequenced. 

There are several reasons why John included this story and Matthew, Mark and Luke didn’t.  John was the last of the gospels written, perhaps in the year 90.  So the others were written earlier, in 50 or 60, 62, perhaps 65.  So John was very old when he wrote this and it was a product not only of his experience with Jesus, but also of his theological reflection.  If you compare the gospels, if I had all of you go home and read the gospels and come back and tell me which is the most beautiful, the most poetic, everyone would say St. John’s because it is.  Again I think the reason is because he had the advantage of this theological reflection.  He not only tells us what Jesus said; he tells us what Jesus means.  He not only tells us what Jesus did, he suggests to us the reason Jesus did it. 

So in this particular miracle story of the wedding at Cana, John uses the miracle for a purpose.  In John’s gospel, a miracle is never an isolated act.  Jesus doesn’t cure out of compassion as he does in Luke’s gospel; he cures to show who he is.  So a miracle gives the people observing Jesus a clue of who he is.  So he did this at Cana because he gives us a new teaching.  He turns the Jewish ceremonial water into wine indicating he was going to change the ceremony, the ritual of the Jewish people into something so much greater, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Son of God. 

So, John was also very close to Jesus.  He was the first one of “the big three.”  You know there are 12 apostles, but there were three who had Jesus’ ear:  Peter, James, and John.  If you look at the Scriptures, when he went up on the mountain, he took Peter, James, and John with him.  When he went to the garden after the last supper, he took all twelve, but then he took Peter, James and John further.  We see that in other places.   So John was close to Jesus; the closest among the disciples.  We believe John was “the beloved disciple” we hear that in his own gospel telling.  We believe John was next to Jesus at the last supper.  He was probably the youngest of the twelve.  John was at the foot of the cross.  All the other disciples were hiding. 

John was very close to Jesus, but he was also very close to Mary.  At the foot of the cross, Jesus said, “Woman, behold your son.  Son, behold your mother” to his beloved disciple, so at the foot of the cross right before he died, he gave his greatest belonging away, his mother, to the beloved disciple who represents the every man, every woman…you and me. 

By the way, John uses the same words at the foot of the cross as he does in “Woman, what does that have to do with me; my time has not yet come.”  To a lot of us here, that sounds like he’s putting his mother down.  You try it.  “Hurry you’re going to be late to school.”  “Woman what does that have to do with…”  Boom!  But actually I learned this just today.  There are seven different words for “woman” in Hebrew.  This, the “woman” that John uses, is the most respectful.  It really means Signora or Lady.  So he used the same word in the feast at Cana as at the foot of the cross.  So John was Mary’s adopted son.  As Mary aged, we assume that John took care of her as so many people do when their parents are older.  You sons and daughters, if you are lucky, will have the pleasure of caring for your mother or father.  So he learned from Mary and she was no doubt the center of the Church, perhaps in Ephesus where there was a great catholic community and perhaps it was in Ephesus where John wrote his gospel. 

Note that Jesus’ first miracle is done at the request of Mary.  She goes up to her son and says, “They ran out of wine.”  “Woman, what does that have to do with me?” She doesn’t even look at him, but says to the others, “Do whatever he tells you.”  You can almost see the mother…”What does that have to do with me, sigh, do what he tells you.”  Remember Jesus is fully human, and so is his mother.  They had a mother-son relationship, a fully human one.  We all know what that is, mother-daughter, mother-son, fully human.  So Mary was the cause of the first miracle; it was her request. 

So John understood Mary’s potential role in salvation, not only her “yes” at the conception, not only her temporary influence at Cana, but her permanent role in the economy of salvation.  Economy is a word that is used by theologians, “the economy of salvation.”  Economy means “the arrangement of things”; it’s a Greek word.  So Mary has an essential part in the economy of salvation, in the way God arranged us to be redeemed.  Mary is not just another person, she’s not just an onlooker, she’s not just one of us, although she is one of us, she is not just one of us.  She has a key role in the economy of salvation and Mary today in heaven is God’s mother.  She is the mother of Jesus Christ. 

When I get to heaven, I am looking forward to seeing my mother and my father, among others.  She’ll still be my mother.  Jesus is still human, glorified, still divine of course, always has been and always will be, so he and his mother are in heaven.  So she still has influence with her son.  I call her “The Lady of the Elbow”.  “Mary, I need this…”  We intercede all the time.  We ask each other to pray for us, and offer to pray for them.  How many times have we heard that, will you pray for my son…or pray for my friends?  We ask the saints in heaven to pray for us in the same way.  They are interceding before God for us and of course Mary is a saint who can intercede for us.  A saint is a holy or virtuous person with regard to as having a place in heaven.  So she has great influence, as the other saints do.  Their intercessory prayer is powerful.

Above all of that, Mary is not only a great intercessor, she is your mother, if you are a Christian.  She is your mother.  A mother’s love is irreplaceable; we all know that, and Mary is your mother.  Who do you go to with your troubles?  When you get older you go to your mother, when you are younger too.  So take your cares and worries to Mary, to Mom.  We all have cares and we all have worries about health, or addictions, or your children’s welfare, or job, or marriage, your relationship, and your grandkids.  Take those cares to Mary because she cares because she is a mother.  Our Mother will be the last to abandon you, the last to close a door in your face, the last to give up on you, a mother.  It is true of our earthy mother, but it is especially true of our heavenly Mother.  There is an old Irish saying, “God is strong, and he has a good mother.”  He gave us the best he had, and she won’t let you down.

I will ask you to bow your head and we will pray this simple prayer to our Mother of Perpetual Help: 

Mother of Perpetual Help, you have been blessed and favored by God.  You became not only the Mother of the Redeemer, but also the mother of the redeemed. We come to you today as your loving children.  Watch over us and take care of us as you held the child Jesus in your loving arms, so take us in your arms.  Be a mother ready at every moment to help us.  For God who is mighty has done great things for you and God’s mercy is from age to age on those who love him.  Intercede for us, dear Mother, in obtaining pardon for our sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace always to call upon you, Mother of Perpetual Help.   Amen.