Second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C

Is 62:1-5

1 Cor 12:4-11

Jn 2:1-11

The wedding at Cana is not just about Jesus helping a couple in need. It is about his wedding to us, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah in the first reading: “Your Builder shall marry you.” Jesus, by revealing his glory publicly in this way, and having his disciples begin to believe in him, inaugurates the marriage that will be consummated on the cross. The fierce love that God has for human life cannot be overstated or exaggerated. That’s why its sanctity, and the absolute obligation to defend that sanctity, likewise cannot be overstated or exaggerated. To trample human life is to trample upon God’s bride.

The water becoming wine further symbolizes the fact that Jesus Christ elevates human life and human love to a new kind of life and love: that which is shared within the life of the Trinity. We have human life; now in Christ we are called to partake of Divine life. We experience human love; now in Christ we are called to experience Divine love.

As we do so, we help one another find, manifest, and grow in that life and love. That’s where the many ministries of the Church, as summarized in the Second Reading, come in. All of it is in the service of human life, called to Divine marriage.