Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read John 2:1–11
I love that on the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, we read about Jesus' first miracle, which, admittedly, was anything but ordinary. It’s an intimate miracle, one that’s discreet, ushered into existence by Mary; a miracle witnessed by only a few—the servers, some of His disciples, and His mother—but experienced, unknowingly, by many.
When I pray with this passage, I am usually drawn to Mary and the last words we hear from her in Scripture: “Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:5). I love to ponder the significance of these words and this powerful instruction from our Mother to stay close to her Son.
Yet, as I sat down with it again at the beginning of this new year, preparing to share my thoughts with you, my heart kept being drawn back to John 2:10:
"But you have kept the good wine until now.”
The headwaiter, unaware of the miracle that has occurred, is struck by the quality of the wine being served. And I couldn't help but think about the reality that so often, unbeknownst to us, God is saving the good wine. Even the things in our lives that seem so very good, we will eventually realize are so much more perfect when united to God in heaven. As Saint Paul writes, "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).
But blessed be Jesus that we are given foretastes of this heavenly wine while we are on earth. The joy of family celebrations and feasts is a glimpse of the eternal celebration we will partake in at the heavenly banquet. When the beauty of a piece of music, poem, or painting moves our soul, we experience the invisible beauty of truth visible in Christ. The grandeur and majesty of a beautiful sunrise, crashing ocean waves, night sky full of stars, grand mountain ranges, sweeping plains, and swirling desert sands all speak the universal language of creation through which God is revealed.[1]
At times, we are also granted the gift of witnessing the wonder of water being turned into wine, where the ordinary or even broken aspects of our lives are turned into something extraordinary: the consolation received from family and friends during moments of grief, a loved one—or perhaps even ourselves—breaking free from the chains of addiction, the return to the confessional after a long departure, a conversion to the Catholic faith, the gift of a child, unexpected healing in a dire illness, forgiveness and reparation in a relationship once broken, or freedom and healing from traumatic wounds.
These moments of transformation—where God turns water into wine in our lives—are awe-inspiring and teach us something profound about God's ways and His timing, for the decision to save the good wine for last is unexpected. The headwaiter remarks to the bridegroom, "Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now" (John 2:10). Though it is a statement, it is as if he is asking the bridegroom, "why" or at the very least, commenting on the unanticipated decision.
In this, a truth about God's nature is revealed. His timing is unprecedented. He does not work according to human understanding or presumption, nor do we have the ability to foresee or decide the exact hour when the good wine is brought out.
I love that this miracle, which reveals so much about heaven and what God has in store for us, is read during Ordinary Time. Increasingly, I have the suspicion that it is here, in the ordinary—amid the imperfect circumstances of daily life, the unforeseen problems, the mundane and monotonous—that God pulls back the veil of heaven and most intimately and profoundly reveals the depth of His love for us, His faithful and persevering servants.
Food for thought or journaling...
Think of a time when you experienced a taste of the good wine or witnessed God turning your water into wine. Write a prayer of praise and thanksgiving for this moment.
Good and gracious Lord, You turn water into wine, You transform scarcity into abundance, and You provide us with tastes of the heavenly wine so that we might perceive Your glory. Open our eyes so that we do not overlook these spectacular moments, and help us trust in Your perfect, unexpected timing, knowing that when we least expect it, You will bring out the good wine.
[1] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd edition (Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2012), #2500.