Weddings gone wrong

Think back to all the weddings you have ever attended and I’m sure there are more than one that stands out because something unusual happened at the Church or the reception.

But, at a wedding, things can go wrong?  The handsome, cute and very young ring bearer, refuses to come down the aisle, at the reception, the bride accidentally throws the bouquet into the ceiling fan.

Then there’s the toast by the best man, who begins with, “I really don’t like speaking in front of people” and twenty minutes later is still talking .

My wife and I have four children and each of their weddings has a funny or unusual story, but the best was my son Michael’s. His wife to be lived in a beautiful home accessible only by a dirt road.

It poured the day and night before preventing the limo or any car for that matter, from entering the flooded long dirt road.

In her wedding gown, along with the other bridesmaids, they pulled up their long gowns, and barefooted to the limo parked up on the main road. They went to the closest WaWa gowns and all, to wash the mud off their feet.

Then there was a wedding where the grandmother of the bride came down with a virus and couldn’t attend the ceremony, but asked a special favor since she couldn’t be there.

She, said, could someone read from Scripture, 1 John 4:18 which beautifully says: “There is no fear in love; instead perfect love drives out fear.”

Unfortunately, instead of 1 John 4:18, they quoted John 4:18, without the 1 at the wedding: “For you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.”

Yes, Things can go wrong at a wedding. And at Cana something went wrong at this wedding Jesus attended. They ran out of wine, and in that culture to run out of wine was considered a sign of disrespect.

It was a wedding party, in a small, poor village and the couple were probably poor themselves. Jesus, and our Blessed Mother may have been close to the couple, maybe even a relative.

And, Mary, our Blessed Mother being a close relative may very well had something to do with the organization of the wedding celebration.

Mary is the first to notice, and says to Jesus, “They’ve run out of wine.” There follows, two statements that can sum up this entire Gospel, that can sum up all of Scripture.  Jesus says, “My hour has not yet come.” And, Mary responds with the wisest words ever spoken. “Do whatever he tells you,” she tells the servants.

His “Hour”! For Jesus, this hour was the entire reason why he had come into the world. Everything that Jesus said and did throughout all of Scripture revolved around this hour.

But, the Father, through the voice and heart of Mary, makes this the very hour. She trusts in her Son and knows he has the solution. His appointed time has come.

This “hour”, the appointed time to announce the kingdom of God has arrived, the time when the will of God would be fulfilled.  It was the time Satan would be defeated and the forces of darkness overthrown.

Jesus’ hour has come and for three years he will teach us and show us the way to eternal glory and the culmination of this hour will take place when he is lifted up, in all of his glory, on the cross.

We need to view this hour as not a point in time but as our hour as well. In all things we do, we must hear Mary our Mother’s words, “Do whatever he tells you”. We must trust that God has a solution.

For he will never tell us to go figure it out for yourself, but over and over we read in Scripture, “Trust in God”, he’s already got it figured out for us.

Our Blessed mother’s heart went out to the poor young couple and she interceded for them, not to the servants but to Jesus. She does the same for us.

The interesting thing is she was not dismayed by Jesus’ apparent refusal, nor did she insist on her request.  But so confident and secure in the knowledge of her son, she tells the servants to do whatever He tells you.

Through Mary, the servants followed Jesus’ command.  Not a moment of doubt, not a protest – they simply obey. 

Mary, our Blessed Mother needs to be in our life. She can help with our daily problems, our concerns, our doubts? And how humbling for us to imitate the blind, prompt obedience of the servants at the wedding feast.

There is a call to newness in our readings today. God summons us to something new, gives us a new name, provides us with new experiences, launches us into new ministries, and calls us to sing a new song of praise.

The water was made wine.  But, a miracle much more wonderful that the one performed at Cana is repeated every day on our altars; a little bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ and given to us as Food for our souls.

It is then we can believe in the words of St. Peter, “I have tasted the sweetness of the Lord”. And that feast can only take place at the altar of the Lord.

Jesus tells us “come to me all who are burdened”, and our Blessed mother tells us, “Do whatever He tells you”. “Come to me all who are hungry, are thirsty, who are weary”. Come to the table of plenty, and I will give you rest.

God wants nothing more than for our journey on this earth to lead us to him. For some it will, for others it may not. Heaven depends on our true love for God, and so he tells us, “If you love me, keep my commandments”. Like a wedding, In this life so many things can go wrong.

Who better to help us to understand and to carry out Christ’s commands?  Who better can teach me to love my neighbor than she who gave birth to Love Himself? Let these words in today’s Gospel talk to you, inspire you and take them to heart. “Do whatever he tells you.”