Second Luminous Mystery : The wedding Feast of Cana

John’s Gospel begins with the words “In the beginning was the Word.” The book of Genesis begins with the exact same words, “In the beginning . .,” and then it culminates in the creation of man and woman on the sixth day. If we follow the episodes described in the first part of John’s Gospel in the original Greek, then we discover that the wedding feast of Cana occurs on the sixth day of John’s description of events. In this way, John’s description of the event at Cana is a reference to the coming into being of a new creation of man and woman. The entire Old Testament bears witness to the fact that something is amiss in creation. This is alluded to by the fact that at Cana the wine is missing. The original wedding feast for which God created us has gone awry. The mother of Jesus has the wisdom to discern that something is gravely wrong. Mary has a fundamental part to play in this Gospel story (and in the history of salvation), and she says to Jesus, “They have no wine.” It is important that we appreciate the state that we are in. We cannot embark on the spiritual life unless we recognize that we have been created for beauty and joy, and we accept that we are betraying this beauty.

The third part of the Gospel is centered on the fundamental element of obedience. Mary exhorts the servants: “Do whatever he tells you.” What is it that heals us? By walking in God’s paths as well as we are able in the impoverished state in which we find ourselves. Just as the servants did in the story, the best we can do is fill the bottles with water. But Jesus transforms our water into wine. We must do what we can, but then Jesus takes our efforts and brings them to wondrous fruition.