'Do Whatever He Tells You'
by Tom and April Hoopes in Faith on Saturday, January 16, 2010 6:00 AM
(In this weekly column, Tom and April Hoopes share family-friendly ways of observing the liturgical year and celebrating the Sunday readings.)
Jan. 17 Readings
Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalms 96:1-3, 7-10; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-12
Our Take
As the new year — and Ordinary Time — begin in earnest, the liturgy gives us a month of beginnings.
Christmas is over; soon will come Lent and sacrifice. But in between, throughout January, the Church draws our attention to the ways Christ began his public ministry.
In each case, Christ’s way of beginning includes a shadow of the cross. At the Epiphany, it’s the threat of Herod. At his baptism, it’s the beginning of his confrontation with the devil in the desert. And as we’ll see later in the month, his prophecy about the messiah — “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your midst” — will end with a direct threat on his life.
Today’s “beginning” is the wedding feast at Cana. John calls it “a beginning of his signs” and says he “revealed his glory.”
In the text, Mary herself prompts the miracle that makes Christ known as an extraordinary figure.
It starts when she points out the wedding party has no more wine.
Christ’s response — “My hour has not yet come” — is a reference to the fact, seemingly well known to both mother and son, that to reveal his glory will lead to “his hour”: his death.
Her reply is to tell the servants to “Do whatever he tells you,” which spiritual writers say is the counsel she gives to everyone at all times.
Thus, at the beginning of Christ’s ministry, the Father (via a voice at his baptism) and his Mother are present, just as they will be in the end when he commits the Church to Mary and his spirit to his Father.
—This article originally appeared in our sister publication, the National Catholic Register.
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