Second Sunday of Ordinary Time
Isaiah is writing five centuries before the birth of Jesus. The Jews have been liberated from Babylon by the Persian emperor Cyrus. Their challenge now is to rebuild Jerusalem which had been utterly destroyed by the Babylonians almost 90 years before; it now lies derelict before the despairing eyes of the returned exiles. Isaiah's task is to encourage his people to rebuild the Holy City. He does this by visualising a glorious future for Jerusalem and its people. "You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord, a royal diadem held by your God. No more shall people call you 'Forsaken,' or your land 'Desolate.'" But this miracle will be performed only by a people who can work together.
The second reading is the first of six consecutive passages from I Corinthians which we'll hear over the next month and a half. The citizens of Corinth were certainly not accustomed to working together. The ancient city had been rebuilt in 44BC by Julius Caesar. Its ruins even to this day are quite impressive. It was a very diverse, cosmopolitan city of great wealth in its hey-day. It was notoriously immoral, or at least Paul thought so. It was populated with conscripted freed slaves from Italy, Greece, Syria, Egyptian and Judea. Its strategic location also attracted thousands of settlers from all over the Mediterranean basin. Soon enormous personal wealth was to be found in the local ruling class, which was made up of self-made men and a surprising number of self-made women, as well. Paul has a unique relationship with the Corinthian church. He not only helped create it; but also chose to deal with the difficulties which continually sprang up in it long after he left the area on other missions. Because of the diverse nature of its population, the inhabitants of this Greek city were notorious for forming factions.
Paul reminds his readers that no ideal community doesn't come into existence by accident. People don't just declare themselves followers of Jesus, then automatically start reaping the benefits. Discipleship is a difficult, tension-filled vocation. We must first identify and encourage the gifts the Spirit has given us for the community's benefit, then diligently and honestly identify the gifts of others. Because our needs are diverse, our gifts are diverse. If we today were faced with the problem of such diversity in the midst of unity, we'd probably look for ways to tone down our differences and strive for uniformity. Paul refuses to employ this easy solution. He believes the more diverse our gifts, the better we perceive the risen Jesus, and the deeper our love becomes. Only love can mold differently gifted individuals into the body of Christ.
Instead of squelching diversity for the sake of uniformity, Paul proclaims his core belief: "To each individual the manifestation of the spirit is given for some benefit." No gift is to be downplayed. Someone in the community needs it.
In our Cana passage, it's not only necessary to remember that Jesus changes water into wine, it's essential to note in what type of vessels the transformation takes place. We usually assume that the servants simply filled six empty wine jugs with water. But that's not what the text says: "Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings..."
Once these purification containers have wine in them, they no longer can be used for "ceremonial washings." This prompted the great Johannine scholar C. H. Dodd to clarify the sign value of this miracle: "Jesus turned the water of Judaism into the wine of Christianity." In John's theology, the faith of Jesus replaces the faith of Judaism. It's this transformation which the evangelist expects his readers to recognize.
John tells us tell us that people of faith must often look at everyday reality more than once to see the significance God has embedded in it. God reveals himself daily to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.