Was there a good point in the sermon that you heard for your Mass of Sunday obligation?
Let us know what it was.
For my part, I contrasted the “troubled times” theme in the Mass setting, Haydn’s Missa in angustiis, and the joy that Christ brought in working His first public miracle at the behest of His Mother. Christ’s first great miracle was took take away anxiety and give joy through wine, “that gladdens man’s heart”. We should provide others with joy. We can listen the Mary’s words, “They have no wine” as being “they have no joy”. We can obey our Mother and “do whatever He asks” in regard to our neighbor and in regard to what the Church, our Mother, teaches, and we can “fill the jars”. The water that we give in works of mercy can be transformed by Christ into joy in others.
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Holy Mass is the wedding feast of the Lamb and heaven on Earth.
The importance of inviting Christ into our homes. How it is disheartening that many Catholics choose not to have a wedding Mass.
Our 89 year old pastor commenting on the Epistle said that no one has been able to define love, but that God is love. We can describe attributes of love, but not define it. On the Gospel, he said that even at 30+ years of age, Jesus was obedient to His Mother, and that obedience has no age limit. Another point today was that he said we have to ask ourselves if we would die in defense of the Catholic Faith. He said that he has to ask himself if he would stand on the steps of our church or in the aisle and take a bullet for the Gospel and the Faith. He has said this many times before in light of the current situation in our country and the world.
I went with a consideration of the servants who brought the water and the fact that they filled the jars “to the brim.”
http://www.shawnthebaptist.org/2016/01/homily-308-half-empty-water-jars-2nd-sunday-in-ordinary-time/
– That this particular Gospel reading is very rich and there are many interesting things that can be seen in it;
– That our human marriages are in some way a reflection of Christ’s union with the Church (tied in with last week’s Gospel with the bridgeroom/bride imagery);
– That we are living in times when human marriage is not fully understood, and not only by the world at large, but by Catholics. For example, many Catholics don’t know that marriages of Catholics have to be done in a church not a backyard or a beach or something. People do this, but not necessarily out of malice, because Catholic schools have failed to teach the precepts of the Church and priests have been afraid to preach on the subject for many years;
– What declarations of nullity actually are (and what they are not); and,
– That we (the congregation) have to understand our faith and teach it to those amongst our families and friends who never darken the doors of a church building.
There was so much in Fr Bryan’s sermon. The point that really struck me was that God gives everyone gifts and we need to recognize and acknowledge them in ourselves and others.
Fr Dave spoke about sacrifice, servantness ( vs being a servant as a job) and that had the servants not served Jesus by filling the stone jars, He could not have turned the water into wine. So to, we must be willing to serve and sacrifice to bring Jesus to ourselves and our world.
I compared the 3rd Day of Creation in Genesis with the 3rd Day of the New Creation in John – The Wedding Feast of Cana. Our Lord is the “great light,” our Lady the “lesser light,” the disciples and all of us who correspond to His grace, the “stars in the sky.” We are preparing for the Wedding Banquet of the Lamb and Our Lady aids us when our wine runs out.
Father talked about how the wedding feast at cana was the beginning of Christs public life and how it is thought that Christ is asking Mary’s permission to begin His public life when He says,”Woman, what is it to me and to thee…” and that the Fathers had speculated that God uses this wedding feast to raise marriage to the dignity of a sacrament. And that it is important to sanctify the family with regular family prayer.
Attended a pro-life mass in New Haven today, which was celebrated by Abp. Blair. Apparently His Excellency felt the need to reassure us during his homily that Pope Francis is genuinely pro-life.
Our deacon noted that Mary is only referenced twice in John: at the wedding in Cana and at the cross when Jesus assigns her as our mother. Her command to the servants at the wedding was to do what He tells you and this is what she tells us now.
The gospel reading has the very last words in Scripture attributed to the Blessed Mother and they are the best advice to us; “Do whatever He tells you.” That in the brilliant plan of salvation, God, The Father, has included a Mother. It is not only supernatural, but very natural, since from our infancy, it is to our mother that we turn for consolation. She is our consolation, because she is the Mother of Mercy. That Jesus doesn’t just offer mercy but He is Mercy, incarnate, and so she is the Mother of Mercy. It is at the Blessed Mother’s request that Jesus, who seems reluctant, because it is not yet the time to start His public ministry, performs His first miracle. Through her intercession, He provides mercy for the couple at Cana, because at that time, it was a very important custom that one provide for all the comforts of the guests invited to such an occasion as a wedding and that it would be very humiliating and stay with them forever if they were known as the ones who ran out of wine. The Blessed Mother brings Mercy, her Son.
It is also noteworthy that at the hour of death, the Church pours out an abundance of graces and mercy, through the anointing of the sick, Viaticum, the beautiful Litany of the Saints asking ‘pray for him/her’, and even the Apostolic Pardon. We want that. If someone is in danger, call for a priest. Do not take no for an answer. And take note that the final prayer is that which the Church asks of the Mother of Mercy, the Hail Holy Queen, because she is our life, our sweetness and our hope, because she brought Mercy into the world, and so we fly to her and ask, “Pray for us, oh Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.”
Father strongly encourages devotion to the Blessed Mother of Our Lord, Our Mother. She shows us the way to her Son. “Do whatever He tells you.”
Father reminded us that Mary interceded on behalf of the couple without any expectation of gain, thanks or reward, and that she is always filled with charity and a desire to intercede for us.
He also spoke about how affection must be properly ordered by charity.
Mary intervenes not just at Cana but for us today. She is our advocate, the “advocate of mercy” (Pope St. John Paul II). As we pray in the Hail Holy Queen “Turn most gracious Advocate thine eyes of mercy to us”.
Jesus calls Mary “Woman” which is not insulting but is because she is our spiritual mother, the new Eve. He uses the same term on the cross when he says “Woman behold your son”.
“Do whatever he tells you” – total trust in Jesus. She is a model Christian for us to follow.
I had the chance to hear a very simple yet very deep homily.
After explaining that the story is recounted with an emphasis on Jesus and Mary while almost lefting out the couple getting married, the father went on explaining that Jesus is the spouse, the spouse of the Church, and that the miracle is a sign of the old covenant being replaced by the new.
Brought me to tears.
Father preached on Mary, our model of petition, in the way in which she petitioned Our Lord, not ordering Him, but pointing out a necessity, then leaving it to His judgment as to what needs to be done. We should, in this respect, follow her model in asking the Lord our petition.
He then segued to the existence of the opposite in marriages. That this type of relationship applies to all sorts of relationships, including that of husband and wife, where both husbands and wives can invite strife in marriage if they seek or order one another unjustly, or resort to rash judgments against one another when the spouse doesn’t do something they want, or as quickly as they want.
i have to admit being at N.O. mass i dont listen much to the sermons altho they are for the most part innocuous. my priest talked about the Cana wedding a bit but then spoke about march for life as our parish is sponsoring buses for people to go to DC and we started a novena for life a couple days ago, our bishop did anyway for our diocese. this young priest is passionate for life and also very against this whole euthanasia thing that libs love so much.
Unlike magic tricks which impress by virtue of what the magician can do, the gospel writer’s intention was not to show merely what Jesus could do, but who Jesus was, and how his mission and ministry completed, replaced perfected the first covenant. Familiar with prophetic testimony found in Isaiah 32, as well as Hosea, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and elsewhere, in which the covenant is portrayed as a spousal rather than contractual relationship, the gospel writer makes clear the continuity of the second covenant with the first, as in a sense Jesus becomes the real host of the wedding banquet. Jesus replaces former norms of ritual purity with an invitation to come and drink deeply of his saving blood.
As John conveys that what matters here is not so much what Jesus can do as who Jesus is, Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians is that the value of a person’s individuals gifts are relative to the degree to which those gifts are put in the service of the community. Our Christian identity does not derive from the religious practices and observances in which we participate – as important as they are – but our identity is first and foremost based on our relationship with Jesus Christ by virtue of our baptism and nourished, strengthened and renewed through the Eucharist.
In the Byzantine rite, it was the Sunday of the Publican, where Christ forgave the tax collector. In the homily, the priest talked about the Year of Mercy and how in order for real mercy to take place, one must recognize that what they are doing is sin and seek forgiveness.
Father said the water at the Wedding at Cana was changed to wine and stressed it was better than the wine that was first served. When a couple is first married the joy from the befits of marriage are flowing freely. These are the benefits that flow to the individual. Eventually this joy runs out. We realize our spouse is not perfect and we become disillusioned. If we do what Jesus tells us, he can transform the joy of marriage into something greater – a more selfless joy we get from what we put into the marriage. It is not bad the the first wine runs out because that leave room for the new wine to take it’s place.
Mary, who knew her Son was God, had faith he could perform a miracle.
Our own faith is not a feeling that we have no control over, but a decision to put our trust in God. It is an act of the will. We strengthen and live out our faith by acting according to it, such as by setting aside time for God on a regular basis.
He then spent a good 5 minutes talking about Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and had arranged for a couple parishioners to be ready at the exits after Mass to encourage people to sign up for time slots for perpetual Adoration or answer questions about Adoration in general.
Saturday evening, OF: that despite we’re fully back at green colors again, we’re actually still having a Christmas-wise celebration: because, “on this day, our Lord wedded his bride the Church: Jesus is baptized in the water, the Wise Men bring gifts, and water turns into wine, alleluia”. Not sure I recall it exactly, but it was, and he said it was, the antiphon of Epiphany.
Sunday morning, EF (FSSP): that the Church instituted the week of prayer for Christian unity between the former throne-feast of St. Peter on January 18 and the Feast of St. Paul’s Conversion one week later. He went on to explain a bit about the different but united characters of St. Peter and St. Paul, our Lord’s prayer in John 17 and that one could think that this prayer was unfulfilled, but that cannot be, as it is our Lord praying who instituted that very Church, etc. – and how it is that Christians actually are united. (He didn’t put it as bluntly as stating that the non-Catholics have to become Catholic, but you can’t have everything, we know it anyway, and it was all very Mortalium animos-like.)
(I guess he plans to preach on pre-Lent next Sunday, so chose this one even though it’s one day before the week of Christian unity.)
Diocesan Indult Mass. The priest spoke on how this Gospel is a favourite of Nuptial Masses, and that while it is more focussed on the starting of Our Lord’s ministry, it does call to mind family life. He noted how family life is under a most determined attack funded by international finance.
We went to a EF High Mass in which a religious deacon preached a fine homily about the nature of signs in ordinary life, and then in the scriptures and today’s Gospel in particular. He mentioned the all-important reality of being in a state 0f grace, otherwise we’re like in a boat without sails or oars. Always great to hear doctrine lovingly explained in a homily!
In reference to JonPatrick’s email saying that Jesus called His Mother “Woman”….In John 20:13 Jesus addresses Mary Magdelene (supposedly) as “Woman” then says “Mary” (v. 16). Since that is the only place in Scripture in Greek where the two names Jesus and Mary are side by side (the Greek reads, “So, said Jesus, Mary”) I think that it was the Blessed Mother He addressed as “Woman”, then NAMED her (Mary) just as Adam named Eve in Genesis.
Mary Magdelene was the one who said, “Rabboni”…but it was the Blessed Mother to whom Jesus said “Noli me tangere”. The Resurrection scene has Mary, Mary, Mary and Mary and she, she, she and she. One of those Marys was the Blessed Mother. Where else would she have been? Back at John’s house? No…she would have been at the tomb. That scene, read in Greek, becomes more clear as to which Mary is doing or saying what.
My bishop reminded us that without the Church there are no priests and without priests there is no Eucharist. He was celebrating a 50th anniversary Mass.
I went to the mass in the hospital chaplaincy. The priest mentioned how there were 6 jars – despite seven being the ‘perfect’ number. This was to show that this was not the perfect miracle – that was yet to come (ie the resurrection / the eucharist / etc).
The priest also commented on “serving the best wine last”, about how society often idolises youth and sees no value in getting older or in suffering. He then spoke about how we could continue to experience these joys as long as we remained close to Jesus and drank that true wine.
During the homily, Father brought one of the congregation up onto the alter and did a back and forth with him where we all clapped for the participants willingness to tell his tale which I couldn’t hear. I got the chance to just shake hands w/an older woman in offering the sign of peace (praise the heavens no hugging). Everyone lifted their hands like they were being taken up to heaven in the rapture during the Our Father and I held my ground and kept my hands together in prayer (I was at the end of the row so I was thankfully ignored). Nothing in the homily made mention of the wine but as Father went to consecrate the Host he stopped and told the short story from the bible passage of what happened and how Jesus told the servants to go fill the jugs with water and that the servants were the first to know of the miracle. No mention that he was subservient to his Mother on this issue or that she might have knowledge this was his time to shine (last year’s sermon different church). I should also state for the record that nothing was used of the book in the seats so I could follow – the priest winged it. The readers did do the reading which were in the book but not so you could follow along w/reading the words of the bible. I guess they want your attention on what is said not what is read and go with the flow.
On the plus side: Music was very nice and catchy (by no means would I call it prayerful more like repetitive God top 10). Mass was at 5pm on Sunday which was voted on and this made all the difference b/c the place was filled for those that do have to work on Sunday. I left feeling good that I went and was part of something bigger but I had been watching the church channel while at work so I was ready for mass but I came home and went online to find a homily for the 2nd sunday after Epiphany.
Wish you’d put your homilies up Father Z.
Best regards.