Traditional Catholic Teaching - SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

The mother of Jesus saith to Him : 'They have no wine.’
St. John 2: 3.

Life is a marriage-feast at which people seem to sit comfortably side by side; every one appears to wish to contribute as much as possible to his neighbor's pleasure and happiness, and yet nothing fails so often as the wine of charity. Hence the Church to-day reminds us of the Holy Name of Jesus, to tell us that we, too, ought to invite Him to share our feast, so that if the wine of Divine love tends to fail, He may give it to us again. Jesus is the name of everlasting love, let us glorify it, and beg our Lord to come and take up His abode with us, and work in us spiritually the miracle that He wrought long ago in Cana. What was that miracle? He changed water—the less noble liquid — into wine — the more noble. To change what was worse into what was better, to transform a sinful human heart into one pleasing to God, was the task of His infinite love, and we, too, ought to strive to transform what is base within us into something honorable, and what is good into something better. Such is our task here on earth ; in the midst of our mean, temporal exertions, cares and struggles, we have to earn the noblest of all treasures, heaven, eternal bliss. O happy indeed shall we be at the hour of death, when Jesus will turn our last tears, forced from us by the bitter deceptions of life, into the wine of everlasting joy!

The name of Jesus encourages us to co-operate with our Lord in the important business of transforming what is base within as into what is noble, in zealously working with Him at the task of our sanctification.

How can we do this? Let us ask Him how He effected the change of the lower into the higher, and then we shall see what we have to do. It was at a wedding that He changed water into wine, and He did it because He is always ready to listen to any one, and His kind heart is always disposed to grant every prayer. In a higher sense He had already accomplished what in a lower sense He did at the marriage feast. He came down from heaven and was born into the world, uniting His divine nature with our frail human nature, which was thus infinitely exalted and ennobled. The Church reminds us of this fact at every Mass, for, when the priest pours the wine into the chalice, he mixes it with water. The wine signifies our Lord's Divinity and the water His Humanity, as is stated in the prayer said by the priest: "O God, who didst wonderfully create and dignify the human race, and hast still more wonderfully reformed it; grant that by the mystery of this water and wine, we may be made partakers of His Godhead, who vouchsafed to become partaker of our manhood, Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord." Yes, by assuming our human nature, Christ united it with the divine nature in the unity of His Divine Person, and thus to some extent made us, weak mortals as we are, participators in His Divine Nature. What an honour for us ! What a stimulus to do all in our power to become more worthy of this favour, to strive more and more to attain to the bliss that Jesus has obtained for us, and to become better, through growing in likeness to God. Why did our Lord do all this? Why did He unite His Humanity so closely with His Divinity? In order that humanity might be one with God. His incomprehensible love worked this miracle.

Yet this was not all. Man was to advance from one stage of perfection to another; and our Lord teaches us this lesson very beautifully. At the marriage feast He changed the water into wine, and at the last supper He changed wine again into His Sacred Blood, that He shed for the remission of the sins of many. Over and over again, whenever Mass is said He allows this miracle of the changing of wine into His Blood to take place, that we may unite with Him, and through this close union may be gradually transformed and raised to the dignity of true children of God: What caused Him to do this? It was again His love, His infinite, incomprehensible love.

Now we can return to our former question : How can we co-operate with our Lord in the work of our sanctification? By entering into the infinite love of God; by letting ourselves, our hearts and minds be penetrated by that love, by letting every action in our whole life be in harmony with the words of Thomas A Kempis: "All is vanity, except to love God and serve Him alone." If we love God, the muddy water of sin must be changed into the refreshing wine of forgiveness. Love God, and in this love begin to fight against your passions, hard as the struggle may seem. Have you not in your heart a guest able to change water into wine? Can it be more difficult to convert you than to work this miracle? Both are hard things, far beyond your human strength, but nothing is too difficult for Him Whom you love, therefore be not despondent. One drop of evil passion after another will be changed in your heart to virtues, if only you suffer Him to do His Will, and cooperate with Him as far as you are able.

However much we exert ourselves and look to see what amount of good wine we have ready, we shall always have to confess that it is very, very little. This is not because our Divine Guest, whom we have lovingly invited, has not used His grace, but because in our carelessness we are always adding fresh water, that is to say, fresh sins, or because we are not exact in our obedience to the orders that He gives, but imagine ourselves to know better than He does, and, therefore, the transformation of our poor weak hearts into strong and perfect ones is effected very slowly. We ought to acknowledge that even if we have toiled for a long time at our own improvement, we have not cast off all that is evil as much as we should have done. Do not let us be satisfied that in one or other respect the transformation of the water into wine has really taken place, but let us rather fix our attention upon the points where the change has not yet been effected. If you have improved, you have not yet improved as much as you might and ought to have done. Therefore, do not rest contented with the good wine that God's grace has poured into your hearts, but strive every day to become better and more perfect. You ask, perhaps, how you are to do this; by loving Jesus more day by day; love Him more deeply and let that be the aim of your lives.

Love of our Lord can change the water of your deeds, and works into the good wine of actions pleasing to God. How hard a man works who does not love God! He toils, labours, suffers and struggles, but because there is no love of our Lord in his heart, all his efforts are in vain, or, at best, deserve only an earthly reward; for work done without love of Jesus has its reward only in this world. But as soon as he begins to labour for love of our Lord, to do what He wills and because He wills it, then all his works are transformed into merit, entitling him to heaven as his reward, and at last the bitter cup of labour, toil and trouble will be filled with the golden wine of eternal happiness. Love Jesus daily more and more, and your whole lives will be changed, a commonplace succession of little tiresome duties and trivial annoyances and sufferings will become a series of good deeds, meriting an eternal recompense.

Love Jesus truly, and your hearts and minds will be changed! Our hearts and minds, even if not deeply stained with sin, are apt to be very poor and miserable. What can a heart feel that is void of love of God? Pleasure only in fleeting, childish and foolish things. And in the same way the thoughts of a mind without love of Jesus are never noble, but are prompted by wretched curiosity and interest in what is beneath our notice. Hearts and minds in which love of Jesus has no place, cling to foolish amusements and trivial gossip, to things that do not concern them and have no good results — truly a pitiable state of affairs. But the more fervent is our love of Jesus, the more will our hearts long for higher things and strive to attain them, and our minds will be inspired from above to know and desire what is holy, so that we shall become more accessible to all good influences and more kindly disposed towards our neighbours. What is hard in us will be softened, what is mean will be ennobled and what is stained and disfigured with sin will acquire a heavenly beauty. If you do your best to raise your hearts and minds, the improvement will be seen sooner or later in your outward life, which will be transformed, when true love of Jesus has penetrated, purified and transformed your hearts. You will be gentle and loving to your neighbors, doing much good and preventing much evil; you will do your duty cheerfully and willingly, and so benefit yourselves and others, and by your life, works and sufferings you will be sources of true holiness and happiness.

Love Jesus ever more and more, and your life that has hitherto perhaps been like water, rendering yourselves and others miserable, will be changed into the holy wine of love, gentleness and true piety.

Let us, therefore, invite our Lord to the marriage feast in our hearts, where our earthly life is united to heaven. Let Him be our welcome guest, whose love will transform what is bad in us, so that sin may give place to purity; passions to virtues, work on earth to eternal merit, and our struggles here to glorious results and heavenly dispositions. Amen.

Return to: Readings