Painting, “The Wedding At Cana”, Giotto, 14th century.
Stories are very important in our lives. Stories impact our lives, whether they are in book form, in audio form, or in visual form like television or movies. We can travel to faraway places, experience different cultures, experience the world in the past, meet historical men and women, and dream of what might be in the future all through story. Stories can impact our emotions. My dad use to tell the story of coming home from school to find my grandmother all upset about the injustices heaped upon some poor woman, only to find that that poor woman was a character on one of my grandmother’s favorite radio soap operas. Stories can entertain and relax us. Ruthie use to unwind after working nights by climbing into a hot bath with a Harlequin Romance. How many of us were thrilled to be taken away to the imaginary world of Hogwarts with Harry Potter, Hermoine Granger, Ron Weasley and Professor Dumbledore?
Stories are so important that I would go so far to say that they are essential to our lives as human beings. Are not the stories which we share and to which we listen around the table at Christmas and Thanksgiving, at family reunions, weddings, and funerals important to us? It is these family stories that assist us in figuring out who we are as individuals and as people within the family. Of all the stories we know in our lives, the most important and essential story for us to hear and to know is the story told around this table (indicate the altar), the story of our Church family, that is, the story of Jesus of Nazareth.
The four Gospels are all about how the story of Jesus has interacted and connected with the life stories of the people in the faith communities who wrote the Gospels. In reading and listening to the stories of Jesus in the Gospels, we find there are some stories that were so important that all four Gospels tell them, the most important one of all, the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And there are some stories that are important in one Gospel but are slightly different in another, or may not even be present in other Gospels. What all four Gospels share is how strongly the story of Jesus impacted the life stories of the people in those faith communities, and how strongly those stories continue to impact our own life story.
Today we hear the story of Jesus at the wedding in Cana. If this story was just about Jesus turning gallons upon gallons of water into finest of all wine, it would be a remarkable story. However, what makes this story even more incredible is that at this wedding in Cana, Jesus, in a very public way, openly connects the story of his life with the story of all human lives, yours and mine included. At the wedding in Cana, Jesus announces to all who will listen that that for which humanity longed so much, the coming of the Messiah to save all people, has arrived. It is as if Jesus was telling the people of his time, “I am the Son of God and I am here to share my life with your lives. I am here to share in your sorrows and in your joys. I am here to be present to you during the dark times of your lives, and during the good times of your lives. I am here to give you happiness beyond all of your dreams if only you will connect your lives with mine.”
How important is the story of Jesus for us? I must confess that when I was young, it wasn’t on the top list of important stories for me. However, I remember very distinctly that first moment when my story and that of God interacted very strongly. It was at the moment when my first child was born. I was 22 years old, standing behind the doctor watching as the head and then the body of my son, Andy, emerged from Ruthie’s womb. It was at that very moment that I felt the presence of God in that delivery room. God’s presence was so strong and so filled the room that had I lifted my hand, I swear I would have touched the face of God. It was my Moses encountering the burning bush, St. Paul encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus moment of conversion. As I continued to reflect on my life from that moment on, I found that the presence of God intersecting with my life was not just an isolated occurrence but something that had been happening all along. I just was too self-focused or distracted to notice it happening.
When we are young we are so busy trying to discover just who we are, feeling the need for independence, that it is easy to miss or overlook the times that Jesus has entered into our life’ story. As adults, we are so busy or distracted by all the things we have to do to raise a family or to thrive and perhaps just survive, that we can miss or overlook the times that the story of Jesus has encountered our lives. There are two simple ways by which we can see the presence of Jesus in the story of our lives.
As I did following the birth of Andy, we need to find a time to quietly reflect on our life’s story from the time we were born to where we find ourselves now. While we may not have had the Cana experience of water being turned into wine moments anywhere along that continuum of time, look for the important events and the people that have been significant in our lives. As we deeply reflect on those events and people in our life, we will find the presence of Jesus there participating through those people or in those events in some way.
The second way is that at the end of each day before falling asleep, let us think about our day. Jesus Christ was present to us throughout the day. In the people and the events of the day, where did we encounter Jesus? Did we recognize Jesus and participate in his presence, or did we walk away and ignore his presence? Before falling asleep, using our own words, let us pray to Jesus that our five senses will be more open to his presence, inviting him to share his life more deeply with that of ours when we awaken in the morning and head out into the new day.
Stories are very important in our lives. Stories impact our lives, whether they are in book form, in audio form, or in visual form like television or movies. We can travel to faraway places, experience different cultures, experience the world in the past, meet historical men and women, and dream of what might be in the future all through story. My dad use to tell the story of coming home from school to find my grandmother all upset about the injustices heaped upon some poor woman, only to find that that poor woman was a character on one of my grandmother’s favorite radio soap operas. Stories can entertain and relax us. Ruthie use to unwind after working nights by climbing into a hot bath with a Harlequin Romance. How many of us thrilled to be taken away to the imaginary world of Hogwarts with Harry Potter, Hermoine Granger, Ron Weasley and Professor Dumbledore?
Stories are so important that I would go so far to say that they are essential to our lives as human beings. Are not the stories which we share and to which we listen around the table at Christmas and Thanksgiving, at family reunions, weddings, and funerals important to us? It is these family stories that assist us in figuring out who we are as individuals and as people within the family. Of all the stories we know in our lives, the most important and essential story for us to hear and to know is the story told around this table (indicate the altar), the story of our Church family, that is, the story of Jesus of Nazareth.
The four Gospels are all about how the story of Jesus has interacted and connected with the life stories of the people in the faith communities who wrote the Gospels. In reading and listening to the stories of Jesus in the Gospels, we find there are some stories that were so important that all four Gospels tell them, the most important one of all, the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And there are some stories that are important in one Gospel but are slightly different in another, or may not even be present in other Gospels. What all four Gospels share is how strongly the story of Jesus impacted the life stories of the people in those faith communities, and how strongly those stories continue to impact our own life story.
Today we hear the story of Jesus at the wedding in Cana. If this story was just about Jesus turning gallons upon gallons of water into finest of all wine, it would be a remarkable story. However, what makes this story even more incredible is that at this wedding in Cana, Jesus, in a very public way, openly connects the story of his life with the story of all human lives, yours and mine included. At the wedding in Cana, Jesus announces to all who will listen that that for which humanity longed so much, the coming of the Messiah to save all people, has arrived. It is as if Jesus was telling the people of his time, “I am the Son of God and I am here to share my life with your lives. I am here to share in your sorrows and in your joys. I am here to be present to you during the dark times of your lives, and during the good times of your lives. I am here to give you happiness beyond all of your dreams if only you will connect your lives with mine.”
How important is the story of Jesus for us? I must confess that when I was young, it wasn’t on the top list of important stories for me. However, I remember very distinctly that first moment when my story and that of God interacted very strongly. It was at the moment when my first child was born. I was 22 years old, standing behind the doctor watching as the head and then the body of my son, Andy, emerged from Ruthie’s womb. It was at that very moment that I felt the presence of God in that delivery room. God’s presence was so strong and so filled the room that had I lifted my hand, I swear I would have touched the face of God. It was my Moses encountering the burning bush, St. Paul encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus moment of conversion. As I continued to reflect on my life from that moment on, I found that the presence of God intersecting with my life was not just an isolated occurrence but something that had been happening all along. I just was too self-focused or distracted to notice it happening.
When we are young we are so busy trying to discover just who we are, feeling the need for independence, that it is easy to miss or overlook the times that Jesus has entered into our life’ story. As adults, we are so busy or distracted by all the things we have to do to raise a family or to thrive and perhaps just survive, that we can miss or overlook the times that the story of Jesus has encountered our lives. There are two simple ways by which we can see the presence of Jesus in the story of our lives.
As I did following the birth of Andy, we need to find a time to quietly reflect on our life’s story from the time we were born to where we find ourselves now. While we may not have had the Cana experience of water being turned into wine moments anywhere along that continuum of time, look for the important events and the people that have been significant in our lives. As we deeply reflect on those events and people in our life, we will find the presence of Jesus there participating through those people or in those events in some way.
The second way is that at the end of each day before falling asleep, let us think about our day. Jesus Christ was present to us throughout the day. In the people and the events of the day, where did we encounter Jesus? Did we recognize Jesus and participate in his presence, or did we walk away and ignore his presence? Before falling asleep, using our own words, let us pray to Jesus that our five senses will be more open to his presence, inviting him to share his life more deeply with that of ours when we awaken in the morning and head out into the new day.
Just as Jesus was willing to share his life with the people at that wedding in Cana, so Jesus wants to share his life with us today. Let us invite Jesus to share his story with ours. Let us be willing to share and connect our life’s story with that of his. I invite you to open your hymnal to #651, and together let us prayerfully sing “Open My Eyes.”
Just as Jesus was willing to share his life with the people at that wedding in Cana, so Jesus wants to share his life with us today. Let us invite Jesus to share his story with ours. Let us be willing to share and connect our life’s story with that of his. I invite you to open your hymnal to #651, and together let us prayerfully sing “Open My Eyes.”
Open my eyes, Lord. Help me to see your face. Open my eyes, Lord. Help me to see.
Open my ears, Lord, Help me to hear your voice. Open my ears, Lord, Help me to hear.
Open my heart, Lord, Help me to love like you. Open my heart, Lord, Help me to love.
I live within you, Deep in your heart, O Love, I live within you, Rest now in me.
