Homily Recording will go here!
When I was young, I was never quick about dropping jokes at home, and usually, it was my brother and my dad who were quick-witted. However, a couple of years ago I surprised my family and went against the norm of who I was in the family. We were having a dinner party for a few friends, and we were short on wine. So, my Mom asked me to go to the store and buy a few bottles of wine. Nothing out of the ordinary, my Mom was cooking, and she wouldn’t have time to prepare. We don’t have expensive tastes, so I just looked for a couple of bottles of wine around 10 dollars or so. Went out got the wine and when I came home and later in the evening, I had a rare moment, and I dropped a joke. When they were getting the wine out, I said: “wait those were bottles of water I bought at the store.” Everyone had a little laugh and as the company showed up later the story was told over and over again. If my Dad or my brother made that joke, we probably would have laughed and moved on, but because I said it, and I almost never tell jokes in the family, it is a story we retell over and over again!
I can imagine the holy family had some similar great stories that they could tell. One of those stories we hear today. Joseph has passed away, or at least he isn’t seen in this scene. Mary knows her son well and knows of the mission that he has come to live out. She can convince her son to change water into wine. Now, this is no small miracle we are used to bottles of wine, that you could drink in a night if you had enough people. These jars of water could easily fit a person in them if you had to. They are a few feet wide and a few feet tall. Jesus doesn’t just change the water into wine he transforms it into good wine.
What is interesting about this story is that Jesus at first didn’t want to change the water into wine. He told his mother, this is none of my concern my hour has not yet come. Despite Jesus reluctance at first Mary says “do whatever he tells you” and Jesus performs the miracle. I don’t know about your families but If your child refused to do something you asked them to do I doubt you would respond like Mary. However, I suspect Mary knew her son and how to convince him to perform his first miracle and his first act of public ministry. Jesus grew up under the care of Mary, and it is possible Jesus continued to live with his mother or at least see her regularly. She knew if she told the waiters “do whatever he tells you” that her son would not refuse and show God’s power by changing water into wine.
What can we learn from this story, and how does this help our own faith lives? First, we learn a lot about our blessed mother. She is a powerful intercessor for us, not just because she brings our prayers to her son, but she knows her son so well and knows how to get her son to do what she wants. Mothers in families have a special relationship with their sons, and they carried them in their wombs for nine months, he played a unique role in raising them especially when they were infants and very young. Mom’s know their sons in a way no-one else could understand. Going to Mary is not only a good spiritual practice, but it can also be a great benefit for our lives. She not only intercedes for us to her son, but she also has a unique relationship with her son that no-one else can ever have or will ever have with him. Who better to ask for prayers than to go to Mary.
Secondly, we can learn from the words she gave to the waiter. Do whatever he tells you. Mary can say the same words to us, and we are called to follow the Lords will by doing whatever he tells us to do. We know this can be difficult, many times we want to plan, we want to know what is going to happen in our lives, and to let go and do whatever God tells us to do is challenging. However, Mary is the perfect example of doing God’s will; she lovingly accepted the words of the angel Gabriel. Secondly, she knows that her son will only do good and bring about right. We are not following the will of someone who may lead us astray. Instead, we are following someone who will lead us to salvation and life everlasting. We are challenged to do whatever he tells us so that we can obtain salvation.
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