From Our Pastor's Desk
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From Our Pastor's Desk
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THE GOOD WINE OF THE WEDDING
For us, the Mass of every Sunday is a feast. We come to seek the good wine that Jesus offers us; the good wine of his word, the good wine of his love, the good wine of his Body and Blood that is given to us as nourishment and brings joy to our lives. Today, the Gospel of Saint John tells us of the first miracle that Jesus performed in the most beautiful setting: a wedding banquet. He speaks to us of love and of the role of women. How our concepts of marriage and family are illuminated at this wedding in Cana? Christianity is a wedding feast because it allows us to live in a wonderful intimacy with God and the marriage union is but a pale image. Dear brothers and sisters: 1. What do we learn about love? Human love is not only the union of bodies but a communion between persons that unites them in life and in their destiny and that blossoms in the fullness of joy. Jesus announces and demands an indissoluble marriage. A marriage founded on true love must be exclusive, total, and unconditional for life. Our society today needs men and women who know how to defend the project of a love founded on these principles and who at the same time understand those who are incapable of living it. 2. What is the role of Jesus in a Christian family? Christ cannot be a simple guest at our weddings, but the one who must stay with us when all the other guests have left. Christ wants to be the witness of the affection of the spouses, the guarantor of their happiness, the mediator in their conflicts, the confidant of their problems, the friend who gets them out of trouble when the wine starts to run out; and above all this, the one who gives them the joy of living, converting the wine of human love into the generous wine of the last hour: the wine of Christian love. For this reason, Christian marriage can never be a duet of selfishness, since it represents the infinite love that God has for us. 3. Have we already valued the place of the Blessed Virgin as the teacher of our life? Her brief intervention highlights the role she plays as a mediator in the mystery of redemption. Mary's presence is rich in details of exquisite femininity and discretion, attentive and effective like a true mother. In this passage we read the only words of Mary in the fourth Gospel: "They have no wine." In the Old Testament, wine symbolizes the fullness of joy in the love between wife and husband. This is how your gaze should be, one that does not question the faithfulness of God, who is not concerned only with himself and his own gains, but who is aware of the "thirst for wine" of so many people around us who have lost even the taste for living. This was Mary's attitude in Cana and this should be ours. Finally, let us not miss an important detail: when we do in our lives "what he says" everything becomes "better." It is the transforming action of Jesus. We must be the water turned into wine for our fellow men. We become "miracles" of Christ, so that the world may believe. A privileged sign is the faithful experience of Christian marriage. The family that is born from it will continue to be the basis of the perfect, happier, and more humane society. In a time of crisis like ours, we ask God to bless all our families. Source: ePriest.com / Best Practices and Homily Resources for Catholic Priests Comments are closed.
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