Today’s Gospel reading is about a wedding, one that Jesus and His disciples attended in Cana. The bridal couple were probably comparative strangers, as was the custom in those days. They, too, may have been “surprise by joy” as they entered the lifelong process of deepening love and mutual discovery. The wedding celebration at Cana conveys an important truth about God’s desire to be one with God’s people in a new covenantal relationship. This was not a new message. The prophet Isaiah in our first reading today describes how the Lord will “wed” His faithful people, “like a young man marrying a virgin”. People did not expect such an event until the end of time, so it came as a surprise when Jesus announced that the reign of God was already arriving. Those who were poor in Jesus’ day didn’t expect to be so blessed. When Mary observed that the wine had run out, it is as though she were lamenting a faith whose joy had run dry. She knew that faith is not about rules but relationship.
The wedding at Cana is a kind of parable, showing how God longs to relate to us, not in harsh or exacting judgment, but in tender, faithful love. In the presence of Jesus those huge stone ceremonial vessels containing water for purifying began instead to overflow with wine for rejoicing. The same change takes place within the believer’s heart: we may feel glad and uplifted instead of sad and sinful. The “best wine” has been saved until now, as the steward of the last feast said; it has been saved for us. St. John tells us that there were six of jars. Since the number 7 is the Jewish idea of perfection, 6 stands a symbol of incompleteness. However hard we may try, we can never achieve holiness by our own efforts. In our relationships and in our work, it may sometimes feel as though the joy run out and that we have nothing left to give anyone else. The let us turn to Jesus in our incompleteness. “Do whatever He tells you,” says Mary to us, as she said at Cana. This is our chance to begin again, to accept His forgiveness and healing, and allow God’s Spirit to fill our hearts. Jesus didn’t say to the servants at Cana, “Store that good wine until the end of time.” He said, “Draw it now.”