John 2:1-11 The Wedding Feast of Cana (Part One)

"On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with His disciples. When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "O, woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you." Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it. When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bride-groom and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him."

This Scripture passage is one of my favorites. I love it because Jesus is at the wedding feast; he was invited and attended like any other ordinary human being. Can you imagine Jesus being at your wedding? The reality is that Jesus is present in every moment of our lives. He is present with me now as I am writing this. He is present with you now as you are reading this.

There was a day, several years ago, when I thought I saw Jesus with my physical eyes. I was attending a healing Mass close to where we used to live in Germantown, MD. There are different types of healing Masses in the Catholic Church. One type is where a parish priest asks someone who is a known 'healer' to come to their parish and conduct a healing service after the Mass. Typically, the 'healer' would ask those with a particular ailment to form a line and walk up to him so that he could lay hands on them and pray for them, one at a time. Sometimes a healer would ask people with a particular ailment to raise their hand or stand up and he would pray for all of them at the same time. But at this particular healing Mass, the healer did something I've never seen done before. After the healer introduced himself and said an opening prayer, he asked, "Is there anyone here suffering from hearing loss or deafness? Would you raise your hand. Those who are near these people, please gather around them and pray for them." The healer was praying in general for those with hearing problems while the others prayed specifically for the person they were gathered around. There were many healings that night. There was much joy. People were crying out things like, "I can't believe it! I can hear! I can't believe it! Thank You, Jesus! I'm healed." The healer continued with the service in the same manner for all kinds of ailments. Love, joy and compassion grew as the service continued. It was an amazing experience to witness these healings, not just because of the healings themselves, but also because of the compassion being given by those praying and their joy when someone was healed. It was apparent how much people care about one another. The other gift of this process was that no one at this healing service was alone. There is a phrase I've heard, 'Alone in a multitude': meaning that a single person could be in a room full of people and yet they still are all alone, whether because of their fault, the fault of the multitude or both. But no one at this healing Mass was completely alone. I tried my best to be by myself (my fault because of believing I was unlovable), but there was one gentleman, just a couple of steps away from me, who wasn't praying for someone nor was someone praying for him. I asked him if he wanted me to pray for him. He did not receive any healing that was evident at the time, but I do believe my prayers for him were answered in whatever way that was best for him. He seemed very sad and much unloved, especially unloved by himself. He could not accept others love for him nor love himself because he did not accept God's love for him. Our lack of faith in God's love for us, that we are not lovable, is a stumbling block to healing. I used to think that I had to work hard to have more faith in God and would be angry at myself for ruining everything by not having enough faith. Even though I know this isn't true - old habits die hard - I'm slowly understanding to accept God's love and slowly understanding what that looks like in how I choose to do things and in how I respond to situations in my life and the people I encounter.

It was at this healing service that I saw the man who I thought looked like Jesus. About a quarter of the way through the healing service, a man entered the back of the gymnasium where the service was being held. He looked like a man in his early 30s, with golden brown hair, beard and mustache and dressed in a slightly creamy-white shirt and pants that appeared a bit luminous. He had a smile from ear to ear. There was more joy and peace in him than any human I've ever encountered. He walked around slowly, stopping and listening to people as they shared with others their story of healing. When I saw Him, I was filled with joy. I wanted to walk up to Him and say, "Jesus?" The fear of being wrong kept me from doing so. At one point during the healing service, the healer lead everyone in a meditation. During this meditation, I sobbed and sobbed - I couldn't stop crying. The man who I wanted to call Jesus just so happened to be standing close by. He gently held me while I cried. It seemed as if he held me forever, and at the same time, it seemed hardly any time passed by at all. When I calmed down, with one arm still around me, and the finger of his other hand gently pointing at me, he said, "And I will talk to YOU, later."

After the service was over, this man was nowhere to be found. I looked everywhere for him. I watched the door as people left. I waited until the building was nearly empty. He was not there. I called David (my husband) and told him what happened. I was upset. I felt like I had received another empty promise that I, once again, fell for. But then I realized that this man was a messenger of God. He was not going to talk to me at this service, but "...later" at home in my heart. I wasn't sure if he was a man or an angel, but regardless, he delivered God's message of calling me into conversation with Himself. God did talk to me later and has been talking to me ever since. God is so good! He is present, just like He was present at the wedding feast of Cana, whether through a human being, an angel or spiritually from His heart to our heart. He is present and He cares about the details of our lives, just like He cared about the bride and groom running out of wine. Most of all, Jesus cared to do the Father's will so that He could bring salvation to us. All glory be to You, our loving God.

But there is more. Recently, I was praying the Rosary with my family. During the second Luminous Mystery: "The Wedding Feast of Cana', along with meditating on this Mystery, I was also thinking about this blog post and the story about the healing service. As I was recalling how I wondered whether this man I encountered was Jesus, an angel or a man, Jesus said to me, "How can you not believe that it was Me?" After talking to my husband about this, I believe it was Jesus, Himself, who visited that healing service and held me in His arms; who said to me, "And I will talk to YOU later!"

As I was contemplating these things, I asked myself what would have happened if I had walked up to this man and asked, "Jesus, is that You?" What I believe is a Holy Spirit inspired answer: Jesus would have put an arm around my shoulders, put his finger up to His lips and said, "Shhhh!" He would have smiled at me, and I would have been much more open to His healing grace. How Jesus would have responded to my courage and faith, no one can say precisely, but I know that any courage and faith I showed would have been rewarded by Him. It's not that I would be the driving force of producing courage and faith, but rather it would be Jesus who would invite me, through His grace, to participate more fully in His will, in His call, in His grace. I participated in His will, His call, His grace, through this very small act of wondering at the healing service whether or not He was Jesus. Even though my response to Him could have been much greater, He took the tiniest bit I gave to Him (my gaze at Him and my wondering about Him) and rewarded me by the most loving, healing hug I've ever experienced. The more we embrace God's love, the more grace He can give us to respond more deeply to His love. He cannot force His love upon us, nor does He want to - using force is enslaving. Our Lord does not want us to be slaves; He wants us to be free, so He offers His grace and His love.

Oh, most merciful, loving, compassionate, God, who is continually present in our lives, who cares about the details of our lives - all glory and praise be to You! Dearest, Lord, Your love is everything. Help us embrace Your love for us. Open our eyes, our ears, our hearts, our mind and spirit to Your love.