“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.” John 2:1-2
It’s the first night of the wedding celebrations and Jesus is nowhere to be found. Sarah, on the other hand, is radiant. I have always had a special bond with her, and since she lost her mother at such a tender age, she has always considered me like a surrogate mother.
She gets ready at her aunt’s house, where a lot of us that came from Nazareth are staying. I feel like we are sardines inside a can because there is barely any room to move. When she walks out of the room, all the women explode in “oh’s” and “ah’s.” She’s truly a vision in white with her dress, her veil which covers her from head to foot, and the coins on her forehead. “You outdid yourself, Mary,” my sister-in-law Salome tells me. “The dress is so beautiful, simple and elegant at the same time.” Salome’s daughters are two of the virgins that are waiting with their lamps filled with oil ready to be lit at the sight of the groom.
Soon we hear a commotion outside. “The groom is coming!” “The groom is coming!” We walk outside and see the parade of torches coming up the hill. And among the men accompanying the groom, I spot my Son. I would be able to recognize Him among a million people. My heart was ready to burst at the sight of Him. When Jesus is present, the atmosphere changes. He has such a powerful personality that He always draws attention to Himself. Right away, I heard the murmurs around me. Everyone knew already what had happened at the Jordan River. Some people were fascinated by Him while others were incredulous.
When the wedding ceremony was over, Jesus came over to hug me and introduce me to His friends. Now there were six of them. They were all rough and simple men, with sunburned skins, dreamy eyes, and with that easy going and playful personality typical of most fishermen. John was the youngest and he seemed the sweetest. Peter had a loud voice that sounded like thunder. His brother Andrew was more quiet and reserved. Philip and James both hugged me as if they knew me their entire lives. And the sixth one, Nathanael, I later found out that when he met my Son, the first thing He said was: “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (1) But my Son impressed him by responding: “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (2) Jesus had seen Nathanael under a fig tree and knew right away that he would be one of his disciples.
The wedding banquet surpassed the number of guests that they were expecting. Sarah told me that the guests would be around eighty, but there were over one hundred persons at the feast. I kept looking towards Sarah and Luke, worried that they would not have enough food to feed all these people. They entered the spacious room amid a rain of flowers that the virgin bridesmaids threw at them, while the music accompanied them in their first dance.
As the night progressed, people continued to consume food and drink wine. The servants were moving non-stop, replacing the empty trays with new ones, and refilling the jars of wine that would be emptied at the speed of lightning. All of a sudden, I saw how the headwaiter approached the groom, said something in his ear, and Luke’s face turned beet red. Here in Israel, where hospitality is so highly valued, and where the grapes grow so abundantly, it would be quite disconcerting for the hosts to run out of wine. Sarah, who was talking with her friends, had not noticed the problem, so I hoped to remedy the awkward situation before she and Luke would be totally embarrassed.
I turned to “Jesus (and) said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’” (3)
Jesus looked at me with a perplexed look and said, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” (4)
I must confess that I was taken aback by His response. He had never addressed me as “woman.” He had always called me “mother.” What was wrong with Him? And once again, the famous hour that He was always referring to. What hour? I remembered when He stayed behind in the temple. It seemed that whenever His mission came to the forefront, His personal feelings got pushed to the background.
But I could not think about that right now. The newlyweds’ reputation was on the line. Therefore, I ignored my Son’s strange words, and I “said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it.’ Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the waterpots with water.’ So they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, ‘Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.’ So they took it to him. When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, ‘Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.’” (5)
Luke looked dumbfounded, but he turned to Sarah who was still happily talking to her friends, completely oblivious to what had just transpired.
Jesus’ disciples were very much aware of the miracle that had just taken place. It was the “beginning of His signs... and (it) manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.” (6)
I rejoiced because my Son advanced His hour simply because I asked Him to. It was a free miracle that He gave from His heart, not only because He loved Sarah like a sister, but because just like me He knew that a celebration had value. It brought unity to a community and it made a heart rejoice.
The wedding celebrations lasted three more days, until the blessed wine finally ran out, and the young guests got tired of dancing through the entire town day and night. When the lights were turned off and the music ceased, Sarah came over, hugged me and said: “Thank you, Mother.” At that moment, I knew that my hour was near, the hour that I would live next to Jesus, to become the mother of the whole world through the pain of my Son’s blood. And I realized that by calling me “woman,” He dignified me with the great title of universal motherhood.
Reflection:
Mary recognizes our needs before we ourselves do, and she is eager to intercede with her Son on our behalf. How ready am I to do whatever He tells me?
Copyright © 2020 Christy Romero. All rights reserved.
References:
- John 1:46
- John 1:47
- John 2:3
- John 2:4
- John 2:5-10
- John 2:11
Resources from the following books are being used on this journey:
1. The Mystical City of God: A Popular Abridgement of the Divine History and Live of the Virgin Mother of God by Venerable Mary of
Agreda
2. The World’s First Love: Mary, Mother of God by Fulton J. Sheen
3. Las Palabras Calladas: Diario de Maria de Nazaret by Pedro Miguel Lamet
4. My Soul Magnifies the Lord: A Scriptural Journey with Mary by Jeanne Kun
All Bible references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise specified.
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