The Wedding at Cana

His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

That sentence and this whole passage demonstrate so much to me than I can ever put into words so I'll just go with a few

1. Mary's intercession. Every time we pray the rosary we are asking Mary to intercede for us to her son Jesus and here we have the first (public) intercession. He tells her it is not his time, Jesus probably already knew that the wine had run out himself but was not ready to show himself but because Mary asks him he does.

2. Trust. This is Jesus' first miracle, Mary had no physical proof that Jesus could do anything. She had all these moments and words stored up in her heart that was pointing to something. She had a message from an angel over 30 years ago that pointed to something. However she had no concrete evidence that something would be useful here. Mary had a trust beyond measure, all those treasures that she had stored up in her heart pointed to something and she knew, she trusted that that something was great and ready and was in Jesus to do not just something "The" thing that was needed.

3. Obedience. Do whatever he tells you. Jesus was obedient unto death, death on a cross. The servants didn't question, they didn't hesitate, they "knew" it was only water in those jars, not a grape was squashed over that water, not even a drop of vinegar put in. They knew they could have easily upset the steward and there would have been consequences, unpleasant consequences. Yet they must have perceived that Jesus was a great man, that he had an authority about him, a presence, a glory and they dipped and took it to the steward.

4. Nothing is too small. Jesus' first miracle was changing water into wine at a wedding. Not the feeding of the multitude, not healing the sick, giving sight to the blind or casting out demons. A wedding, where people are celebrating and making merry. No one is in great need, running short of wine not withstanding. Wine runs out, big deal right, wedding ends a little early, the groom is embarrassed a little, no big right. Not to Jesus, He did not think the miracle at Cana below Him or too unimportant to be His inauguration into public ministry.

5. Jesus is overly generous in blessing us. The wine ran out so I'm thinking the wedding feast was at least half way over, now the groom could have been on the cheap side or his guests could have been on the greedy side, but I believe the wedding was in full swing an in the latter half of feasting. The steward even mentioned that people don't usually bring out the best stuff after the guest have had plenty to drink. The stewards fill 6 jars each holding 20 to 30 gallons, approximately 25 gallons each for a total of 150 gallons of wine for a weeding feast that was more than half way over with guests who already have had plenty to drink. Jesus did not just provide a sufficient quantity of a passable wine no He gave them, blessed them with more than enough of the BEST wine.

PS – This post is linked up with Tina at Gaudete in Domino.com for Sneak Peek Saturday.

And

"With Thee I Am Well Pleased"

The last line of Sunday's Gospel is "with thee I am well pleased" and I have to ask myself can God say that about me at any moment.

I'm sure that He is pleased with my Mass attendance, making it to Confession and Adoration, praying. But is He well pleased with me? The little things, the moments of jealousy and anger, when I get snarky and sarcastic. The not so little things, when I know in my heart He wants a certain action, thought or response from me and I purposefully say no and go my own way.

I want to please God and I want Him to be well pleased with me, I know that He gives me sufficient graces to achieve just that but my human nature seeks the easy way out more often than not.

The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the bodily form of a dove, we too also receive the Holy Spirit at our own baptism. The physical descent of the Holy Spirit publicly marked Jesus as the Christ, God's Beloved, His Son. We too are marked as children of God at our own  baptism, God wants His love and truth to shine through us. The Holy Spirit is within us to to set us on fire for God and His Word, to find joy in pleasing Him.

PS – This post is linked up with Tina at Gaudete in Domino.com for Sneak Peek Saturday.

The Gifts in My Little World

Today is the Feast of the Epiphany, the day we celebrate the three Wise Men bringing their gift offering to the Little Baby Jesus. Friday I was listening to "More 2 Life" radio program on Ave Maria Radio and they were discussing the the gifts that other people in our lives and the gifts that we are in others lives. God puts people our lives for a reason and we are in other peoples' lives for a reason.

So today I am going to reminisce on some of the gifts I have in my life:

- My cousin/little sister. I remember when she was a little girl I would always tell her the reason she was born was to get me to pray. There are times I meant it in a bad way (she was also born to teach me patience) but she really was a gift to my pray life over her lifetime and great teacher of patience. I actually mean that in a good way.

- My friend Rica keeps me social. I am very much an introvert and if given the slightest chance will not put myself out there. My friend R keeps me included planning retreats and get-togethers and from retreating into myself and my own solitary pursuits. This last year had been a very busy time work-wise and I had a very illegitimate reason for being un-social so to speak but R kept me included with rightly timed texts, e-mails and phone calls.

- My grandmother. Everything I do is super fantastic except for when it's not. She is the best cheerleader a girl could ever want yet she doesn't let you get a swollen head. The dress I wore for Christmas I made myself, when she saw it, she acted like it came from the Vera Wang collection or something although we both knew there were many flaws. I was pointed to a few of them I didn't even know about later but I felt like I can continue trying instead of never sitting in front of a sewing machine again.

I think and I hope that I am a gift to my younger cousins as a good example to follow. A few years ago one of my cousins told me she wanted to go into accounting because that is what I did (she is currently studying law) but she always calls me for advice. The other one who is a year younger somehow knows without a doubt that I can make anything happen (to have her confidence). I always dress modestly and while not at the peak of fashion, not frumpily. The other younger girls don't live as close and aren't around as much but I know the adults talk so while I don't have the same regular influence but I do hope I still have a good impact.

I hope I am a gift to the many people in my life in some positive way or the other. I know there are days when my sister wishes I came with a return to sender.

Who are the gifts in your life? How are you a gift to others?

PS – This post is linked up with Tina at Gaudete in Domino.com for Sneak Peek Saturday.