Bible
Study: 1st John 5, 14 to 21 and John 2, 1 to 11.
Our Gospel
passage today takes us to that familiar scene of Jesus turning water to wine at
the wedding Feast of Cana. Coincidentally, today happens to be a Saturday, a
day in this part of the world traditionally set aside for weddings. I wonder
how many of those getting married today will remember to invite Jesus and Mary
as special guests of honour just in case they run out of wine.
That Jesus
was present at a Wedding Feast speaks a lot of volumes. First it shows God’s
own approval for marriage as well as Family. Secondly, it shows that whenever we
invite Jesus, he never turns down our invitation. Thirdly, it shows that Jesus
cares about our happiness and welfare meaning, we should always pray with
confidence and great expectation.
This
brings us to our First Reading this morning. John says: “This is the confidence
which we have in the Son of God, that if we ask anything according to his will
he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that
we have obtained the requests made of him.” John is saying that whatever we ask
from God, we should believe that we have received it already so long as what we
are asking is in line with the will of God. And it is the will of God that we
should be happy. It is also the will of God that a man should delight in his
wife and the both enjoy the bliss of marital life.
Hence,
whenever we pray, we shouldn’t worry about whether or not God heard us or
whether he is capable of granting it to us, we should rather be asking if what
we are asking for is according to God’s will. Most times, we pray for things
that are not in line with the will of God, we ask for material things
forgetting that “man shall not live by bread alone…”, we ask for wealth, for
money forgetting the Cross is still part of our earthly sojourn, we even ask for
the death of our enemies when Jesus himself never wished his enemies to die.
Dear
friends, Jesus being God knew beforehand that the couple had run out of wine,
yet it took Mary’s insistence for him to work the miracle. What does this tell
us about prayer? God knows everything about us. He knows what we lack and what
we need. Yet he insists that we should ask, seek and knock. The process of
asking is not a means of commanding God or informing him of things he is not
aware of. Instead, prayer is for our own good. That process of asking helps to
put our pride to check thereby making us realize that God alone deserves credit
for everything that happens to us.
Prayer is
not a question of commanding, it is all about pleading. And when we pray, we
must obey the voice of the one to whom we are praying. After pleading with
Jesus, Mary said: “Do whatever He tells you.” It would be a contradiction if we
fast and pray yet we allow sin rule our lives. We cannot be asking for favours
yet go about disobeying God at the same time. Imagine what would have happened
if the servants refused to obey the voice of Jesus? Imagine if they refused to
fill those jars with water? This is our story and this is why we never seem to
see the answers to our prayers.
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, double my confidence in you. Amen. Mary my mother, intercede on my
behalf. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith.
It is well with you. God bless you. Happy Weekend.
Fr. Abu.
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