FIRST READING Isaiah 62:1-5
For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch. Nations shall behold your vindication, and all the kings your glory; you shall be called by a new name pronounced by the mouth of the Lord. You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord, a royal diadem held by your God. No more shall people call you “Forsaken,” or your land “Desolate,” but you shall be called “My Delight,” and your land “Espoused.” For the Lord delights in you and makes your land his spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.
Second Reading 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
Brothers and sisters: There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another, the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another, faith by the same Spirit; to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another, mighty deeds; to another, prophecy; to another, discernment of spirits; to another, varieties of tongues; to another, interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.
GOSPEL John 2:1-11
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.
My sisters and brothers in Christ,
This Second Sunday of Ordinary Time brings us the first great miracle of Jesus: the wedding feast of Cana. We are at the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus and we can hear Jesus resisting: my hour has not yet come. It is almost as if Jesus must be pushed into taking up the life that will lead to His sacrificial death for our sake, so that we may be saved.
The first reading today, from the Prophet Isaiah, speaks about what has happened to God’s Chosen People, Israel, His beloved. Israel has been more or less destroyed and its faith watered down and weakened over the centuries. Yet the Prophet Isaiah, looking into the future, states: Nations shall behold your vindication, and all the kings your glory.
God never abandons His people. The Jewish Scriptures have so many stories of God being tempted to forsake His people, yet always in the end, God’s merciful love triumphs and God once again seeks ways to renew His people and to draw their love to Him so that they can be saved.
The second reading is from the First Letter to the Corinthians, begins to instruct us about the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believing community, the life of the Church. There are so many gifts but they are always given to benefit the community. We must focus on that reality: spiritual gifts are meant to benefit the believing community. When a person begins to draw attention to themselves rather than to the Lord and to the believing community, we must be suspicious that the gifts are not from the Holy Spirit.
When we return to the Gospel of John after hearing the first and second readings, we can understand that the gifts that Jesus has are always for building up the community, for drawing others to God, for manifesting the great Works of God so that people may believe. This is done to fulfill the promise of the Lord that He will restore His people and vindicate them once again.
May the Lord Jesus be vindicated in our lives. May our lives be transformed by listening to the Word of God, so that we are able to radiate the gifts of the Holy Spirit and build up our Christian communities in love.