This Sunday we remain in the
afterglow of Epiphany, the celebration of the “manifestation” of Jesus’ divine
glory. [Greek epi – phaino = “shine
upon” = “reveal, manifest.”] Epiphany,
which once was its own season (like Advent or Christmas), has often been
associated with three events from the Gospels: the Magi, the Baptism, and the
Wedding at Cana. These are the first
events that reveal or “manifest” Jesus’ glory in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark,
and John, respectively. Certain
well-known Epiphany hymns (e.g. “Songs of Thankfulness and Praise”) make
reference to all three events, and in antiquity the celebration of all three
was clustered around January 6 in many rites.
Eventually, the different rites separated out the liturgical celebration
of the different events and placed them on their own days.
In Year C, the Church quite
consciously offers us the Wedding at Cana for our meditation on the Sunday
immediately following the Baptism. By
happy Providence, this year we are able to ponder the Magi, the Baptism, and
Cana on successive Sundays.
The Readings for this Lord’s
Day highlight Jesus as our spiritual bridegroom.
1. The First Reading is the
same used at the Christmas Vigil, Isaiah 62:1-5:
For Zion’s sake I will not be silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
until her vindication shines forth like the dawn
and her victory like a burning torch.
Nations shall behold your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
you shall be called by a new name
pronounced by the mouth of the LORD.
You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD,
a royal diadem held by your God.
No more shall people call you “Forsaken, “
or your land “Desolate, “
but you shall be called “My Delight, “
and your land “Espoused.”
For the LORD delights in you
and makes your land his spouse.
As a young man marries a virgin,
your Builder shall marry you;
and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride
so shall your God rejoice in you.
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
until her vindication shines forth like the dawn
and her victory like a burning torch.
Nations shall behold your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
you shall be called by a new name
pronounced by the mouth of the LORD.
You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD,
a royal diadem held by your God.
No more shall people call you “Forsaken, “
or your land “Desolate, “
but you shall be called “My Delight, “
and your land “Espoused.”
For the LORD delights in you
and makes your land his spouse.
As a young man marries a virgin,
your Builder shall marry you;
and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride
so shall your God rejoice in you.
The prophet speaks to the
people of Israel while they are in exile, and promises that in the
not-to-distant future, the LORD will renew his affection for them, and take
them back into a covenant relationship with Himself.
The heavy use of marriage
metaphors in this passage stems from the fact that marriage was a covenant in
Israelite culture, and thus a good image of the covenant relationship between
the LORD and Israel.
The prophet refers to the
people of God as “Zion” and “Jerusalem,” using the capital city as a
personification of the nation as a whole.
She is also personified as a woman, sometimes elsewhere called “daughter
Zion” or “virgin daughter of Zion.” In
previous posts we have commented on the Marian sense of this
personification. Mary, the virgin
daughter of the House of David whose royal compound was on the hill of Zion, is
a personal realization of this “lady Zion” the prophet speaks of.
Our Mass translation says, “As a young man marries a virgin, your
Builder shall marry you,” but many other English translations, as well as
the Vulgate and the Septuagint, read, “As a young man marries a virgin, your sons shall marry you.” This is because the Hebrew consonants for
“your builder” and “your sons” are the same (b-n-y-k), so it cannot be determined which meaning the ancient
prophet had in mind. Both are
theologically suggestive.
“Your Builder shall marry you,” suggests that God, the builder of Jerusalem, shall renew his loving relationship with his people and enter into a new covenant with them. Alternately, it was the Davidic kings, starting with David and Solomon, who built up Jerusalem, so it may suggest a return of the Son of David to renew his covenant of kingship with the people (compare 2 Sam 5:1-3). Finally, “Your builder shall marry you,” recalls the creation of Eve by God, since Eve was literally “built” (b-n-h) out of Adam’s rib (Gen 2:22). “Lady Jerusalem” here is a kind of New Eve, a new sanctuary-bride.
“Your Builder shall marry you,” suggests that God, the builder of Jerusalem, shall renew his loving relationship with his people and enter into a new covenant with them. Alternately, it was the Davidic kings, starting with David and Solomon, who built up Jerusalem, so it may suggest a return of the Son of David to renew his covenant of kingship with the people (compare 2 Sam 5:1-3). Finally, “Your builder shall marry you,” recalls the creation of Eve by God, since Eve was literally “built” (b-n-h) out of Adam’s rib (Gen 2:22). “Lady Jerusalem” here is a kind of New Eve, a new sanctuary-bride.
On the other hand, the
translation “Your sons shall marry you” suggests that the young men of Israel
shall renew their loyalty to their people and their Holy City, Jerusalem, and
commit themselves and all their youthful strength for her upbuilding and
welfare.
All the different senses of
“builder” or “sons” have a certain resonance with the Gospel reading. The Church has rightly seen in the Wedding at
Cana a certain public revealing of the New Adam (Christ) and the New Eve
(Mary). Mary is a type, icon, and
embodiment of the Church—what is true of her personally tends to be true of the
Church corporately. In Mary we see one
whose “builder” has espoused her, because the Creator Spirit is also her
Mystical Spouse. Though Eve was not
espoused by her “builder,” Mary is.
Likewise, though Jesus is her son, Mary as the first Christian and icon
of the Church also knows her son as her spiritual Bridegroom (Eph
5:21-33). This is also true of the
Church: the Church gives birth to Christ in the world through the
administration of the sacraments, especially Baptism. So the Church is mother of the “little
Christs”, that is, Christians. Yet the
Church also knows Christ as her Spouse.
2. The Second Reading is 1
Cor 12:4-11:
Brothers and sisters:
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
there are different workings but the same God
who produces all of them in everyone.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit.
To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom;
to another, the expression of knowledge according to the
same Spirit;
to another, faith by the same Spirit;
to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit;
to another, mighty deeds;
to another, prophecy;
to another, discernment of spirits;
to another, varieties of tongues;
to another, interpretation of tongues.
But one and the same Spirit produces all of these,
distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
there are different workings but the same God
who produces all of them in everyone.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit.
To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom;
to another, the expression of knowledge according to the
same Spirit;
to another, faith by the same Spirit;
to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit;
to another, mighty deeds;
to another, prophecy;
to another, discernment of spirits;
to another, varieties of tongues;
to another, interpretation of tongues.
But one and the same Spirit produces all of these,
distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.
In
keeping with the “Epiphany” or “manifestation” theme, the Church turns our
thoughts in this Reading from how Jesus’ divine glory was manifested (Magi,
Baptism, Cana) to how the glory of God is manifested in the mystical body of
Christ, which is the Church. The glory
of the LORD continues to be revealed in us.
“To each individual the manifestation
of the Spirit is given for some benefit.”
The different “spiritual gifts,” “forms of service,” and “workings”
distributed among all Christians show that God is still at work among us. Unfortunately, in most local parishes, the
spiritual gifts of many believers lie dormant, because they have had little or
no encouragement or training in how to identify the gifts they have receive
from the Spirit and how to employ them in the building up of the body of
Christ. Instead, we have a
“professionalized” view of church work in which the pastor, assisted by paid
staff or some religious, do all the spiritual service. This text from St. Paul challenges us all,
both clerics and laity, to rethink how we organize our parishes, and to make an
examination of conscience as to whether (1) we fully recognize that every
believer has a “manifestation of the Spirit” for the service of the Church and
(2) if we are offering any practical means by which the lay faithful are helped
to recognize, develop, and employ these spiritual gifts.
3. The Gospel is the account of the Wedding at
Cana: Jn
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 the 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.
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 the 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.
There is far more theological
and Scriptural symbolism going on in this passage than I can adequately discuss
here. For example, the six stone jars
filled with water are representative of the Old or Mosaic Covenant. St. John even links them explicitly to this
covenant by mentioning they were “for Jewish ceremonial washings,” i.e. for the
rituals necessary to fulfill the principles of ritual purity spelled out in
Leviticus and Numbers. There are six of
them, and six is almost always a symbol of limitation or defect in the Old
Testament, a failure to reach seven, the number of covenant and
perfection. Furthermore, the jars are
“stone,” reminding us of the covenant written on stone rather than upon the
human heart (2 Cor 3:3; cf. Ezek 26:26).
They are filled with “water,” like Moses provided in the desert (Exod
17:6): water keeps you alive, but brings no joy. Wine brings joy: Zech 10:7, Ps 104:15. So the contrast of jars of water with jars of
wine is the contrast between Moses and Jesus, between the Old Covenant and the
New: “the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus
Christ” (John 1:17).
But we can exposit all the
symbolism present. Being selective,
let’s note the most obvious: Jesus reveals himself here as the “ultimate
Bridegroom.” The responsibility of the
bridegroom at these ancient weddings was to provide the wine. We can see that in the text, because when the
MC tastes the wine, he immediately calls the bridegroom, assuming that he was
the one who procured the vintage.
By taking on the bridegroom’s
responsibility to provide wine, and doing so in a spectacular style (120-180
gallons of fine French import!), Jesus reveals himself as the Bridegroom, one with whom no other mere mortal can
compete. He is the Bridegroom who is
both the LORD and the Son of David simultaneously, fulfilling the subtle
nuances of the prophecies of Isaiah and of the other prophets who spoke of the
renewal of God’s nuptial love for Israel in the future.
In our First Reading, the
prophet said to ancient Jerusalem, “you shall be called by a new name.” This “new name” is the Church. In keeping with the teaching of the Apostles,
the early Christian community understood that a kind of transformation had
taken place in the people of God: a national, ethnic, and geographical
community had become international, spiritual, and trans-spatial: the “heavenly
Jerusalem” (see Heb12:22-24; Rev 3:12; 21:2,10) . Yet the two communities were joined as truly
one, anchored by the core of believers who belonged to both covenant eras, most
notably Christ Himself, with his Holy Mother, the Apostles, John the Baptist
and hundreds of thousands of other baptized believers from the ethnic people of
Israel (the 144,000 from the twelve tribes, Rev 7:4).
So in the Wedding at Cana,
Jesus reveals himself as the Bridegroom of the Church, our own spiritual
spouse. Baptism is the nuptial bath, the
Eucharist is the Wedding Feast, where we receive the Body of our Bridegroom and
unite his body with ours.
Our faith is one of intense
intimacy. God loves us like a bride. He “rejoices” in us, takes delight in us,
each one of us individually.
In my days as a Protestant
pastor, I encouraged people to have a “personal relationship with Jesus,” which
indeed is, properly nuanced, the goal of our existence. But nothing is more personal or intimate than
communing with Jesus in his very Body and Blood in the Eucharist.
Some persons who have left
the Church for other Christian groups have told me they “found Jesus” in
another fellowship, and I have asked in return, “What did you think was going
on all those years when you were coming forward at communion to take the Body
of Christ?” I don’t usually get an
answer to that question. However, I know
the spiritual situation for them was probably not simple. There may have been grave catechetical
deficiencies at their parish, perhaps compounded by poor example from other
parishioners or even the clergy.
Honestly, too, these persons may not have taken much responsibility to
learn their faith or take advantage of the opportunities for growth that were
available.
Despite our failures in the
past, in the Readings for this Sunday’s Mass, the Church proclaims anew the
best news possible: God loves us, God reveals Himself in Jesus Christ, who
comes to us “dressed as a Bridegroom,” with all the intensity of love and
desire to enter into a relationship of intimacy with each one of us. The highpoint of this relationship is to
receive Jesus in the Eucharist, the “source and summit” of our life.
But on a practical level, our
reception of Jesus in the Eucharist cannot be the only aspect of our “spousal”
relationship, anymore than a once-a-week embrace would suffice to make a
marriage work. The reception of Jesus
our Bridegroom in the Eucharist should be part of a lifestyle characterized by
daily conversation with him through prayer and the reading of His word. So, while it is still near the beginning of
the year, let’s make some “new liturgical year resolutions” before it’s too
late. Let’s resolve this Sunday to make
a new effort to set aside time—at least a half hour a day—to listen to Jesus in
his Word through reading Scripture, and to speak to him freely in our heart
(what the tradition calls “mental prayer.”)
Meditating on Scripture and mental prayer make up the daily conversation
of the believer with his or her Spouse, the Bridegroom Jesus. Let’s resolve to deepen that Spousal
relationship with Our Lord this year not only on Sunday but every day of the
week!
1 comment:
Thanks for the insights into these readings. I appreciate it!
Grace & peace,
Chris
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