A Homily for the Second Sunday after Epiphany

+ Even in green vestments the Church’s Sacred Liturgy continues to contemplate the Incarnation—today with what St John describes as an outbreak of “His glory” in the famous proto-miracle worked somewhat reluctantly and seemingly earlier than planned at the wedding in Cana. Who is the infant born in Nazareth? He is He who turns large amounts of water into wine—into the very best of wine!
 
Now wine is something we may regard as a matter of taste: we can take it or leave it. St Benedict even teaches “that wine is no drink for monks” and that those upon “whom God bestows the gift of abstinence…shall receive a special reward.” Monks are recalcitrant beings, however, and St Benedict also concedes that “since nowadays monks cannot be persuaded of this, let us at least agree upon this, that we drink temperately.” (Rule, ch. 40)
 
Be that as it may—and you may rest assured that like their brethren of the sixth century, wine is to be found in the refectory of the monks of Brignoles—wine has an important place in culture and indeed in Sacred Scripture. Amongst the numerous references to wine, including its offering to God as a first-fruit, its use and its abuse, the psalmist teaches us that wine gladdens the heart of man (Ps. 103: 15) as we sing each Saturday at matins. And Our Lord teaches us much about the Kingdom of Heaven in the parable of the tenants of the vineyard in the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of St Mark.
 
However, this simple yet rich cultural good becomes a—indeed the—supernatural reality in the very hands of Our Lord Himself at the Last Supper: “Drink of it, all of you” we are told, “for this is my Blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” In Our Lord’s hands wine no longer merely gives joy to the heart: it gives nothing less than eternal salvation to the soul.
 
So too Our Lord adds: “I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Mt 26:27-29) This verse is not repeated in the formula of consecration at Mass, but it is nonetheless important. Indeed, it takes us back to the manifestation of Our Lord’s glory at Cana: for the new wine of which Our Lord speaks pertains to the Kingdom of God itself, a happy foretaste of which was made available at the wedding of Cana.
 
Lest all this talk of wine make us somewhat dizzy, let us clarify. At Cana we have the first glimpse of the glory of God working through the changing of water into wine—wine that He would change into His Blood poured out in sacrifice for our sins on the Cross and which enables us to partake in the joys of the Kingdom of God eternally.
 
How do we become partakers in this feast? How do we come to enjoy that gladness of heart that is eternal? Let us return to Cana and let the Blessed Virgin Mary teach us. “They have no wine,” she complains to her Son—only seemingly to be rebuked by Him for her presumption. Yet her faith, indeed her inner comprehension of her Son and His mission, of which we know too little, has her instruct the servants: “Do whatever He tells you.” Did she know what would transpire? We cannot say. Could she have foreseen the miracle, or its importance. We do not know.
 
What we do know is that she had a bold and robust faith, daring both to point out what was needed and then quietly to insist that her Son attend to the needs she had made known to Him by instructing the servants to await His orders. This is one of the most poignant moments of the Gospels, when profound faith challenges goodness Himself to ‘produce the goods’ as it were. It is surely the model of prayer for all times and situations for those who would partake in the feast of the Kingdom of God.
 
So too, Our Blessed Mother’s words are the foundation for all Christian discipleship: “Do whatever He tells you,” she instructs us. She herself had already done this at the Annunciation and knew the supernatural fecundity of so doing. So too shall we if we take her words to heart and are prepared to respond in that faith and generosity that enables miracles to happen within us and through us, if we allow the Kingdom of God to take root and grow in our hearts, minds and souls, to the glory of Almighty God and for the salvation of our soul.
 
The infant of Nazareth demands nothing less of us. For He relies on us to be His witnesses, to be the witnesses of the Glory of God in the world today. As we partake in the Sacrifice of His Body and Blood made new here on our altar this morning, let us beg for an increase of faith, and for the courage to act upon it, that we too may come to drink of the new wine of the Kingdom of God. +