2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2022

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
January 16, 2022

My brothers and sisters in Christ,¹

As we just heard in our Gospel today, we have the beautiful story of Our Lord’s first miracle, at the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee.

It is, as we all know, a familiar story. I was thinking that it is easy for us to picture the scene. I image it was a big, joyful, noisy wedding filled with family and friends and loved ones.

And Jesus is there, and his Mother Mary and his disciple. They are right there in the middle of this celebration of love. And I was also thinking that, for sure, Jesus and Mary knew the bride and the groom.

So this Gospel scene that we all know well takes us to the beginnings of Jesus’ public ministry.

As we recall, last week in our Gospel, we reflected on Our Lord’s Baptism in the Jordan River, which marked the end of his hidden life with his family at Nazareth.

And we recall that when Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened up and the Holy Spirit came down as a dove, and the voice of the Father could be heard declaring that Jesus was God’s beloved Son.

In revealing Jesus as the Son of God, his baptism also revealed the relationship that each one of us — that you and I have with God through our baptisms. As Jesus is the beloved Son of the Father, in the waters of our baptism, each one of us is transformed and born again as a son or a daughter of God.

So, today, in this wedding at Cana, we again have a “miracle of water.” As I said, last week we had the Baptism of Jesus with water and so today we have another miracle of water. Jesus turning the water into wine. And in this beautiful sign of turning water into wine, Jesus is revealing something about himself, and also something about our relationship with God.

I also was thinking that it’s interesting that Jesus chooses to perform his first miracle at a wedding, with his own mother present.

I think that through this miracle, Jesus wanted to bless and sanctify married love — the beautiful commitment of husbands and wives to share their lives together and to bring new life into the world.
 
But even more than that, I believe that Jesus wanted to show us that the marriage of man and woman is a symbol of how much God loves each one of us.

My dear brothers and sisters, as we know, God’s love for us is personal and passionate! This is such an amazing truth. The God who created us, loves us with the same deep, personal love that a husband has for his bride and bride has for her husband.

And that’s what we hear in the first reading of today’s Mass — those beautiful words from the prophet Isaiah: “For the Lord delights in you. As a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so shall your God rejoice in you.”

God delights in us! We are a special treasure to him. So this is the amazing truth of our Catholic faith. We are beloved sons and daughters of God!

I think we need to keep thinking about it because we live in a challenging reality and sometimes it’s easy to see the negative things that are happening around us. So I think it is important for all of us to always have that extraordinary understanding that God loves each one of us personally.

And at the same time, God has a mission for each one of us — for our life, for your life and my life. He loves us and he calls us — every one of us in the Church — to spread the good news of his love, to tell everyone that they can know the love of God.

So that means, my dear brothers and sisters, that we all have a vocation. Each one of us has a part to play in building up his kingdom of love and life.

St. Paul tells us in the second reading today that God gives each of us “spiritual gifts” and calls us to “different forms of service.”

God wants us to use our gifts to serve his Kingdom, to reveal to others the extraordinary love that he has for every person.

And we do it, as we have talked about it many times, in simple and ordinary ways. In our daily lives. Jesus really wants to work with us, and through us. Through our good works, through our works of love.

And yes, this is the water that he will transform, that he will turn into “new wine.” Wine that will bring the joy of God to others. Wine that will share with them the promise of divine love, the promise of divine life.

So how is it going to happen? Everything begins, my dear brothers and sisters, from our  obedience to the word of Jesus.

This is exactly what his mother Mary tells us in the Gospel today, when she tells the servants: “Do whatever he tells you.”

This is the key to the Kingdom, the key to holiness and entering into the divine life — to do the will of God, to do whatever Jesus tells us to do.

And yes, that is the way in which we are going to be able to be missionary disciple.

Let’s ask for that grace today — to always be open to listen to Jesus and do whatever he tells us to do.

And I was also thinking that, in this passage of the Gospel, there is something beautiful in Mary our Blessed Mother’s humility. She is in the background, just another guest at the wedding. But she notices that the hosts have run out of wine, and she wants to help.

She does not want anything for herself, she wants only to help others. And so she tells Jesus: “They have no wine.”

So I was thinking in Our Lady’s beautiful example and simple words today, we have a profound lesson in trusting in her intercession.

So my brothers and sisters, we need to abandon our needs and concerns to our Mother Mary. She will take care of us, even if we need a miracle! She knows our needs, like a good mother, and she will bring our cares and concerns to Jesus.

So today let us renew our conviction and understanding of that precious love of God for each one of us.

And let us do whatever Jesus tells us, giving everything we have to him so that he will transform the water of our love into the new wine of his divine life and promises.

And let us always be aware that we are in the presence of Jesus. Let us seek his face, and ask him, all the time, Lord what do you want me to do? And then, of course, let us do whatever he tells us!

And let us count always on the help of Mary our Blessed Mother in everything, let her show us the way to meet her Son, Jesus Christ.