The Transformation of Suffering
Reflections on September 11
& the Wedding Feast at Cana in Galilee

The Wedding Feast of Cana

    I turn now to the consideration of practical ways of bringing assistance to others in everyday life and thus pouring the energy of God's immense love into the global environment: As a way of illustrating this disposition, let me explore the implications of the gospel story of the Wedding Feast at Cana in Galilee John 2:1-11).

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had likewise been invited to the celebration. At a certain point the wine ran out, and Jesus' mother told him, "They have no more wine." Jesus replied, "Woman, how does this concern of yours involve me? My hour has not yet come."

His mother instructed those waiting on table, "Do whatever he tells you." As prescribed for Jewish ceremonial washings, there were at hand six stone water jugs, each one holding fifteen to twenty-five gallons. "Fill those jars with water," Jesus ordered, at which they filled them to the brim. "Now," he said, "draw some out and take it to the waiter in charge." They did as he instructed them.

The waiter in charge tasted the water made wine, without knowing where it had come from; only the waiters knew, since they had drawn the water. Then the waiter in charge called the groom over and remarked to him: "People usually serve the choice wine first; then when the guests have been drinking awhile, a lesser vintage. What you have done is keep the choice wine until now."

Jesus performed this first of his signs at Cana in Galilee. Thus, did he reveal his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

(John 2:1-11)

    John tells us that this is the first of Jesus' miracles. It has a special place in the Christmas Epiphany liturgy where we are invited to celebrate the revelation of the divinity of Jesus in a series of historical events. On Christmas Day, we celebrate the appearance of the Word made flesh as the Babe of Bethlehem. The full significance of this appearance unfolds on the feast of the Epiphany, which means "manifestation" and is the crown of the Christmas mystery. On that feast, three different events are celebrated. These events, which are the coming of the Magi, the Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan, and the wedding feast of Cana, have less to do with historical time than with the spiritual meaning of the historical events.

The Three Events

    The coming of the Magi symbolizes the remote call of the whole human family to divine union. The Magi, or astrologers, came from the East. They symbolize seekers of the truth throughout the ages. Looking at the story from the perspective of divine grace, the arrival of the Magi signifies the fact that all human beings, whoever they are and whenever they may be born, have an invitation to transformation into the divine nature insofar as that is possible for a human being.

    The story alerts us that the Christian religion is not just about becoming a better person as such, but about being divinized, as the Greek fathers called it--sharers in the interior life of God, which is the eternal movement of infinite love between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit within the Godhead.

    The second event that is celebrated on the feast of the Epiphany is Christ's baptism at the River Jordan. The Spirit descends upon Jesus, and the voice of the Father proclaims, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him" (Matthew 3.17).This event represents the manifestation of Christ Jesus to the people of Israel.

    The marriage feast of Cana is celebrated a few days later in the Christian liturgical calendar. On this feast Jesus' divinity is manifested to his disciples.

    There is a gradation here. First, there is the remote call of everyone to divine union in the persons of the Magi. At Jesus' baptism in the Jordan there occurs a proximate invitation. Finally, the wedding feast of Cana symbolizes the celebration of the unity between the divine-human person of Christ and each of us. It is also the marriage of God with each of us. We do not earn this invitation, but we do have to accept it in order to consummate our union with God. Nor are we asked merely to celebrate it as a guest, but to be assimilated by it, and to fully enjoy it.

    This is what Jesus means by eternal life, which is not so much a place as a state of consciousness or, more precisely, Christ's consciousness of the Father as he understood him.