Today’s Gospel describes the first of the signs given by Jesus as he begins his public ministry. A wedding took place at Cana in Galilee to which Jesus, Mary and the disciples were invited. When the wedding party ran out of wine Mary immediately goes to Jesus in the hope that he would perform a miracle, but he explains to her that his time has not yet come. Mary directs the servants “Do whatever he tells you”. Jesus then requests them to fill six jars with with water and to bring them to the steward, who in his amazement drew the finest wine from the jars, wondering why they had kept the best wine until last.
The Gospel message can prompt us to consider how faithful are we to living out the Christian call to discipleship. The words of Mary “do whatever he tells you” remind us of our Christian duty to love by the way we live, modelling our lives on the life of Jesus. The call to discipleship is one of love, especially in the small things. We can give glory to God in our lives by being faithful to the small everyday tasks and doing them well. We are doing the will of the Father when we serve each other in humility and love, loving as Christ did.
In this year of Faith, it is worth pondering that our faith is a gift which we have received from God, and that we can’t keep it to ourselves. By sharing it with others we hope that many will come to know the love of God as we have, as an experience of joy and love. God loves us unconditionally and gives us the freedom to love in return. We are his children, he created us just as we are; and he desires that we would be in complete union with him, trusting in his plan of love. He loved us first and it is for this reason that he gave us Jesus as our Saviour and redeemer. When we respond with love by entrusting our lives to Jesus, we experience the fullness of life that the Father wants to give us by being in communion with Christ and one another through the Church. In this way we are truly responding to the words of Mary “do whatever he tells you” and are growing closer to him as his disciples.
