Do Whatever He Tells You

Today’s Gospel,  John 2: 1-12, features  the wedding feast at Cana. Jesus, his disciples, and Jesus’ mother were guests at this wedding. Mary notices that the bridegroom ran out of wine and brings this to Jesus’ attention. “They have no wine,” Mary says to Jesus.  Jesus’ response seems harsh. He says to her: “Woman, what do you want from me? My hour has not come yet.” Mary then says to the servants: “Do whatever he tells you.”  Jesus says to the servants: “Fill the jars with water.” So they did just that. Jesus then says to them: “Draw some out now and take it to the president of the feast.”  Jesus had turned the water into wine. “The president of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him:  Everyone serves good wine first and the worse wine when the guests are well wined, but you have kept the best wine till now…. This was the first of Jesus’ signs, [through which He] “revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.”

This whole scenario connects with Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection.  At the Last Supper Jesus turns the wine into His blood and says: “Take and drink of this. This is my blood poured out for you.”  On the cross, water and blood gush forth from Jesus’ side when He is pierced with a lance.  And from the cross, Jesus gives Mary to us as our mother, when He says: Woman, behold your son; son, behold your mother.”   Mary is the new Eve, the mother of all humankind, not just Jesus’ mother.

As Mary notices the need for more wine and interceded at Cana, so, too, she is observant of our unmet needs and alerts Jesus.  Jesus did not  immediately respond with an affirmative answer but it is Mary who directs us to listen to Jesus, to go to Him and to do whatever Jesus tells us to do.  Jesus follows the will of His Father and does not act on His own. It is always the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit working together to reveal God’s love, compassion, understanding and mercy toward us, even in the embarrassing moments of our lives when we, too, run out of “wine.”

The Feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple

Today we celebrate the presentation of Mary in the Temple.  According to Father Edward Looney, who gave today’s  homily at the place where I worship, she was presented to the Lord at age three and remained in the Temple until age twelve when, he said, she was betrothed to Joseph.  Father Ed believes that she may have vowed virginity to God during her time in the Temple.  We are told that, when becoming pregnant with the Son of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, she did not lose her virginity. 

Whenever I ask Mary to intercede on my behalf, I think of the wedding feast of Cana. There she notices that the bride and bridegroom have run out of wine.  She alerts Jesus, who said to her:  “My hour has not yet come” (John 2: 5).  She simply tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them. Jesus says to the servants: "Fill the jugs with water' (John 2:8).  They did so. He then said to them: "Draw some out now and take it to the president of the feast (John 2: 8). The water had been changed into wine. "This was the first of Jesus' signs: it was at Cana in Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him" (John 2:22).

My confidence in Mary’s intercessions is rooted in her intercession on behalf of the wedding party. First of all, Mary notices the need and, second of all, alerts Jesus.  The miracle follows. Whenever I am in need, I pray the following prayer over and over again:

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins , my mother, to you do I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate,  despise not my petitions, but in your mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

Mary, our Queen-Mother and Intercessor

Today we celebrate the Queenship of Mary.  Mary is our Queen-mother. As such she brings our petitions to our Lord, intercedes for us, and has our best interests in mind as she approaches her son.  It was Mary at the wedding feast of Cana who noticed the distress of the wedding party as the wine ran out. She it was who brought the situation to the Lord and said to Him: Jesus, they have no wine. Though Jesus responded that His time has not yet come to reveal who He was by working a miracle on behalf of the distressed wedding party, Mary did not walk away by saying to the concerned persons: I’m sorry; there is nothing I can do.  Mary knew her Son and says to the attendants: “Do whatever He tells you.”  

Today, Mary, our Queen-mother, is the same!  She is our Queen-mother and the mother of her Son. She will intercede for us, as she did for the wedding party and the attendants at the wedding. They needed help and Mary knew it. In fact, she saw the need and alerted her Son even before the attendants approached her. So, too, today. She is alert to what is happening in your life and mine and takes her concern to Jesus always! She is not the kind of Queen who simply sits on a throne distant from us and detached from us. No, she is walking among us, paying attention to every detail of our lives and interceding with her Son accordingly. That is what a mother does for her children! Mary is no different than the most attentive and caring of mothers.