Gospel Reflection Jan 20 – Deacon Alfonso
Gospel Reflection
January 20, 2019
Sunday, January 20
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
John 2: 1 – 11
Gospel:
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short,
the mother of Jesus said to him,
“They have no wine.”
And Jesus said to her,
“Woman, how does your concern affect me?
My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servers,
“Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,
each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told the them,
“Fill the jars with water.”
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them,
“Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”
So they took it.
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,
without knowing where it came from
– although the servers who had drawn the water knew -,
the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,
“Everyone serves good wine first,
and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;
but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee
and so revealed his glory,
and his disciples began to believe in him.
Reflection:
“Coming down” from the Holidays is probably the best way to describe our present situation. We come down from the hype and excitement of Christmas and all it’s wonder, anticipation and excitement. It seems that this annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ the God-man fascinates us so much that we lose an awareness of the mundanities of the routines of life. But alas, here we are, back to the ordinary. And though we may be tempted to think that we have exhausted our joy and enthusiasm for the year, today’s Gospel reminds us that Jesus Christ arrives to meet us and fill our life when we believe our energies have been exhausted. Not only does our reading show that he can provide abundance in our need but that his provisions are greater than anything we try to muster on our own. The color the church uses for Ordinary Time is green. Let us consider that in the uneventfulness of life there are many opportunities to grow, to in a certain sense become green as a verdant field. All this renewal and growth is available to us through our communion with the saints, the sacraments and our daily encounter with the bridegroom Jesus Christ, who fills our life with the greater joy.
Deacon Alfonso Gámez Alanís