We have all known times of loss in our lives, when we lose something that is of great value to us. We lose loved ones in death and we may feel that a part of ourselves has died; has been lost. We can lose energy for life, for various reasons. We become discouraged by some experience, and we find it difficult to take on the day. We can lose a sense of our worth because of some experience of failure. We can lose self-respect because of the way that others have treated us. We can lose our reputation because of what others say about us, sometimes unjustly. Natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons, or even a pandemic like the one we had 5 years ago now, can bring about experiences of exceptional loss. People are beginning to ask “Can anything good come out of this terrible experience?”
In placing this story at the beginning of his account of the public ministry of Jesus, John the Evangelist was saying something important about who Jesus is and what Jesus can do. He is declaring that Jesus, the Lord, can transform our various experiences of loss into moments of extraordinary and surprising abundance – there is a fullness within Jesus, the Risen Lord, from which we can draw abundantly in those painful experiences of emptiness and loss.
As we settle back in for the Ordinary Time in our liturgical calendar, our Gospel passage this weekend affirms for us a truth of our Faith: 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 His will. And for this to come to fruition, the Lord needs us, His faithful people, to work through for His transforming mission to come to pass. Remember, there was His mother who brought the need to His attention; there were the servants who did what Jesus asked them to do. The Lord continues to need all of us if He is to work in transforming ways in our many situations of loss today. Even our own experiences of brokenness, loss and emptiness can turn out to be surprising moments of grace. We, too, can discover that it is when we are weak that we are strong, because it is in moments of weakness that the Lord can often work most powerfully, especially through the generosity of others.
The wedding at Cana would have been typical of weddings in that time and place. Yet, Jesus transformed that ordinary human scene into a place of extraordinary grace. That is what he can do for all of us, if we keep inviting him into our lives. A Cana-like experience can happen at any time for us. If we give the Lord space in our lives, we, too, can discover that when the wine runs out for us, when life does not quite turn as we had hoped, the Lord is at work there in ways that surprise us.
(For the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2025)