Bible
Study: Isaiah 62, 1 to 5. 1st
Corinthians 12, 4 to 11. And John 2, 1 to 11.
Today’s
readings deliver a very powerful message about who we are to God, how God sees
us, how much he truly cares about us, how much he longs to see us happy, free
from stress and anxiety, how he is willing to go any extent to provide for us
if only we are willing to “marry” him and trust him in practical terms.
First of
all, as to who we are, the prophet Isaiah in our first reading says, we are:
- We are a nation VINDICATED by God, that is to
say, we are beyond accusation. Satan is the chief accuser of Christians,
he practically lures us into further sin by constantly reminding us of our
past sins and then making us believe that we have no choice other than to
return to former ways. As the book of revelation says: “Now have come the
salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of
his Messiah, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who
accuses them day and night before our God. They have conquered him by the
blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…” Revelation 12, 10
to 11. Next time Satan accuses you, tell him you are more than that, tell
him you are vindicated and capable of walking in the light.
- We are a people of GLORY. As Isaiah puts it, even
kings will be baffled with our glory. Where does this glory come from? It
comes from the variety of gifts that we possess which St. Paul explains in
the second reading. Each of us seated here today has a gift of the Holy
Spirit. In your gift lies your glory. Some have the gift of speaking
wisdom, some others have knowledge, some have faith, yours might be the
gift of healing, you might be able to work miracles, or prophecy or even
speak in tongues. But then, none of these gifts should make us feel proud
or superior to anyone and as St. Paul says, our gifts are for the common
good, not to enrich ourselves. For instance, you don’t have to open a
church or a miracle centre simply because you have the gift of working
miracles. By so doing, you make a business of that which God gave to you
freely.
- As Isaiah continues, we are a people with a NEW
NAME. What is this new name? It is the name we received on the day of our
baptism. A name not only distinguishes us from others, it reminds us who
what are; Christians, children of God and joint heirs with Jesus in the
kingdom of God.
- We are a crown of BEAUTY, a royal diadem in
God’s hands. That is to say, God holds us gently like precious jewellery.
Just like a king values a crown of pure gold, so God values us. We are
beautiful. This beauty is deeper than physical beauty which fades with
time and requires expensive creams, sprays, facial treatments and even
plastic surgeries to maintain. Our Beauty stems from keeping ourselves
free from sin.
- Finally Isaiah hits the golden point by saying
that we are MARRIED to God and so therefore we bring him DELIGHT. Beyond every
doubt, marriage brings us great joy. But then, Isaiah did not just say we
are married to God, he uses the analogy of God marrying us as “virgins”.
There is no honour a man can enjoy that is greater than the honour of
marrying a woman who has kept herself undefiled till the day of the wedding.
His joy at realizing he is marring a woman of integrity knows no bounds
and he never forgets this precious gift. This is the kind of joy we bring
to God when we keep ourselves undefiled by sin.
Marriage
is such a beautiful and wonderful thing ordained by God himself as the way
humans should live. That is why marriage is the only language understood by all
cultures in the world. In fact, being unmarried is the greatest sacrifice
anyone can make of himself because it is not the way God designed for humans to
live full happy lives.
Our lives
as celibates is a cross we deliberately carry so as to point the world to the
fact that there is another home in heaven. We choose to live in pain here on
earth so that the world will not end up in the pain of hell. We live as if we
are angels just to let the world know that angels actually exist. We know we may
not live very healthy or very long but we accept our death in principle even on
the day of ordination like Christ who was born into this world not to live but
to die.
Marriage is
as old as man, it is something engrafted into our psyche, we just reach a
certain age and we begin to feel a sense of attachment to someone of the
opposite sex. We want to just be with them and we believe our lives will be
greater and happier if we have that special someone beside us. That someone who
makes our heart beat fast, that one who understands us perfectly and wants our
highest good. There is nothing wrong in marriage or in the desire to be married.
Even St. Paul said in 1st Corinthians 7, 28 “If you marry, you are
committing a sin.”
God
himself blessed marriage from the very beginning when he gave Eve to Adam and
blessed them as a couple rather than as individual persons. In Genesis 1, 22 we
read: “And God blessed them, saying, Be
fruitful and multiply…” Take note, God blessed “them,” not “him,” or “her,” but
“them” as in two people.
When the
Pharisees tried to test Jesus by discrediting marriage, Jesus reaffirmed the
validity and sanctity of this great institution when he said: “Have you not
read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and
said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to
his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two but one
flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." Matthew
19, 4 to 6.
In our
Gospel passage this morning, God in the person of Jesus honoured this great and
beautiful institution of marriage by being present at the wedding feast in
Cana. Just imagine, there were many people waiting to hear God’s words, many
waiting for healing from sicknesses and diseases, many suffering under various
attacks and oppression of darkness, Jesus left everything else, he left the
souls to be saved and went to attend a wedding!
This not
only shows how much Jesus valued and approved marriage, it also shows symbolically
how Jesus himself has become our bridegroom and we his bride. The relationship
that should exist between us and God is like that which exists between a man and
his wife. Ordinarily left to ourselves, we are nothing and so unworthy brides
of God but as the Prophet Isaiah reminds us, we are qualified because we are
vindicated, we have glory, we have a new name, and we are beautiful.
Just as it
is a sacrifice to be unmarried, it is a great punishment to be without God. In fact,
the worst thing that can ever happen to you is NOT to be in a relationship with
God. This relationship must be seen as a marriage. And you know, for you to
enjoy a marriage, you must play your part, you must love, you must be faithful,
and you must make the other spouse happy.
When the
wine ran out, it was a great disappointment! The couple at the wedding feast of
Cana had not prepared well. The shortage of wine was bad omen, a sign of
failure, a miscalculation on their part and something that would make them
objects of shame in the community. The shortage of wine was a sign of their
IMPERFECTION. When we too enter into marriage with God, we do not automatically
become gods, we enter with our humanity, with our attachments to the world and
our concupiscence to sin. At times, the Wine also runs out! At times, prayer
becomes dry and burdensome, at times, we fall under the weight of the cross.
Mary’s
intervention at the wedding feast at Cana is the highpoint of her motherly
care. And for generations to come, we continue to ask for her intervention by
saying the Rosary. When people ask us why we pray rosary, let us remember to
tell them about today’s Gospel passage. Whenever the wine runs out, we should
remember to go down on kneels and pray the Rosary. When we fall into sin, we
should pray the rosary. Praying the rosary daily not only remedies us against
sin, it prevents us from further sins.
Mary’s
deep trust in Jesus’ ability to remedy the situation despite his outright
grumbling is seen by her asking the servants to just do whatever Jesus says. She
was so sure that even though Jesus said his time had not come, he would do
something. This is the type of confidence we should have. A confidence that
even if God tells us that what we are asking for is impossible, we would not
stop praying or be discouraged. The kind of trust we should have in God is one
that is so firm and unshakable that it shows itself in practical action.
Imagine
the servants knew fully well that it was water they were fetching into the
jars. Yet, when Jesus told them to give some to the steward of the feast, they
obeyed without asking questions. They showed their trust practically by
obeying. It is to the extent that we trust that we obey. If we really trust God
enough, we would have no excuses for disobeying his commands. For instance, if
we trust that God meant true happiness for us by telling us not to defile our
bodies, we would not turn things around by trying to seek happiness through
immoral acts.
We fall
into sin because we do not believe that God can turn water into wine so instead
of fetching water into the jars as he commands us to do, we start looking for
wine from satan. When we obey God commands, we are like people swimming against
the tide, people tend to laugh at us, they wonder why we just like to suffer ourselves
for nothing, and they wonder why we like water so much when Satan’s wine is all
over the place. But in the end, the wine Jesus created became the sweetest of
all. In the end, we would laugh forever in heaven while those who did not trust
Jesus enough to keep his word will end in eternal sorrow and pain.
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, as you remind me of who I am today, teach me to remain faithful to my
marital vows to you and teach me to trust you practically by obeying every one
of your commands. Amen.
God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is
well with you. Happy Sunday.
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