DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Isaiah 62:1-5; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-11: Year C 2019)
The first reading consists of an oracle of salvation. The first verse is a prophetic promise of deliverance; the other four verses develop this theme through the use of marriage imagery. The gist of this first part is that God will not rest until the nation (Jerusalem/Zion) is vindicated, until its righteousness dawns and its salvation burns brightly. In other words, God will not rest until all behold the vindication of the nation. In the later part of the reading the vindication in store for Jerusalem is more than a restoration. The city is promised a new name, spoken by the mouth of the Lord. A new name implies a new status. This is a kind of new creation. The marriage language and imagery make this clear, since marriage is itself the creation of a new reality. However, the language is first discouraging and only then encouraging. Forsaken can mean abandoned by one's husband; desolate can mean barren (cf. Isa 54,1). Previously the nation had been in such straits. But now the vindication and the new name indicate a total transformation. The people who were once forsaken are now the delight of the Lord; the land that once was barren is newly espoused.
In the second reading, Paul launches into a discourse on the varieties of functions within the Christian community. Since the gifts or ministries or works were manifestations of the Spirit, no one was to be considered superior to another. Further, they were not given for the self-aggrandizement of the one who received them. All were given for the benefit of the entire community. There is a multiplicity of spiritual expressions, all of them manifestations of the Spirit, given for the common good. Although they come from God, the needs of the community certainly influenced the nature of these manifestations. The role of the Spirit in the life of the community is evident. It is through the agency of the Spirit that the community is blessed. In fact, these blessings do not merely come from the Spirit, they are produced by the Spirit and are manifestations of the Spirit. The challenge facing the community was the humble recognition of the manifestation of the Spirit wherever it is found and to whomever it is given. The various gifts, service, and workings were to be the cause of enrichment for the community, not dissension.
The author of the gospel ends the account of the wedding feast at Cana by referring to it as a sign (semeion), a wondrous feat which points beyond itself to some deeper reality. The event is the miraculous changing of water into wine. Every other aspect of the narrative must be understood in the light of this event. It includes the role played by the mother of Jesus, Jesus' hour, his glorification, and the belief of his disciples. The personal name of Jesus' mother never appears in this gospel. It was Mary, the mother of Jesus, who prompted the miracle. Jesus’ referring to her as woman should not be seen as a sign of disrespect. Instead, it is akin to Madam or Ma'am, expressions used by many people today. Jesus' hour is the time of his glorification, the time when he will be manifested in all his glory. The culmination of this hour will take place when he is lifted up on the cross. However, throughout his ministry there will be times when some aspects of his identity will be manifested. Chief among these will be when he performs miraculous signs. The miracles of Jesus were never mere exhibitions of supernatural power. They were always revelations of the in-breaking of the reign of God, and the time when this in-breaking should begin was determined by God, not by Jesus and, certainly, not by his mother. Jesus was saying: We cannot preempt God's time. Evidently, the hour of his glorification had arrived, for Jesus performed his first sign. Through it his glory was manifested to his disciples and they believed in him. The establishment of the reign of God had begun. Since the event was described as a sign and since a sign points to a reality deeper than what is obvious, their faith did not rest merely on Jesus' ability to perform miracles. They believed, or would eventually come to believe, the deeper meaning of the sign, a meaning somehow related to water and wine. The water was originally intended for ritual cleansing. According to Jewish custom it was to be available for rinsing the guests' hands and for washing the vessels used during the feast. On the other hand, a wedding feast with free-flowing wine was a standard image of the age of messianic fulfillment. In this first sign, Jesus transformed Jewish ceremonial into eschatological celebration, and his disciples believed in him.
The readings of this Sunday offered to us as, we begin Ordinary Time, carryover some of the themes we considered during the Christmas season. Then we celebrated the new era God inaugurated through the birth of Jesus. Now we look deeply into our minds and hearts to see just how open we are to the demands of that new era. Last Sunday we considered the manifestation of the Spirit at the time of the baptism of Jesus. This Sunday we contemplate the various manifestations of that same Spirit in our own lives. Finally, we are brought to realize that this variety of Spirit-filled ministries is intended to be a source of Christian unity and not of fragmentation or division.
(Isaiah 62:1-5; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-11: Year C 2019)
The first reading consists of an oracle of salvation. The first verse is a prophetic promise of deliverance; the other four verses develop this theme through the use of marriage imagery. The gist of this first part is that God will not rest until the nation (Jerusalem/Zion) is vindicated, until its righteousness dawns and its salvation burns brightly. In other words, God will not rest until all behold the vindication of the nation. In the later part of the reading the vindication in store for Jerusalem is more than a restoration. The city is promised a new name, spoken by the mouth of the Lord. A new name implies a new status. This is a kind of new creation. The marriage language and imagery make this clear, since marriage is itself the creation of a new reality. However, the language is first discouraging and only then encouraging. Forsaken can mean abandoned by one's husband; desolate can mean barren (cf. Isa 54,1). Previously the nation had been in such straits. But now the vindication and the new name indicate a total transformation. The people who were once forsaken are now the delight of the Lord; the land that once was barren is newly espoused.
In the second reading, Paul launches into a discourse on the varieties of functions within the Christian community. Since the gifts or ministries or works were manifestations of the Spirit, no one was to be considered superior to another. Further, they were not given for the self-aggrandizement of the one who received them. All were given for the benefit of the entire community. There is a multiplicity of spiritual expressions, all of them manifestations of the Spirit, given for the common good. Although they come from God, the needs of the community certainly influenced the nature of these manifestations. The role of the Spirit in the life of the community is evident. It is through the agency of the Spirit that the community is blessed. In fact, these blessings do not merely come from the Spirit, they are produced by the Spirit and are manifestations of the Spirit. The challenge facing the community was the humble recognition of the manifestation of the Spirit wherever it is found and to whomever it is given. The various gifts, service, and workings were to be the cause of enrichment for the community, not dissension.
The author of the gospel ends the account of the wedding feast at Cana by referring to it as a sign (semeion), a wondrous feat which points beyond itself to some deeper reality. The event is the miraculous changing of water into wine. Every other aspect of the narrative must be understood in the light of this event. It includes the role played by the mother of Jesus, Jesus' hour, his glorification, and the belief of his disciples. The personal name of Jesus' mother never appears in this gospel. It was Mary, the mother of Jesus, who prompted the miracle. Jesus’ referring to her as woman should not be seen as a sign of disrespect. Instead, it is akin to Madam or Ma'am, expressions used by many people today. Jesus' hour is the time of his glorification, the time when he will be manifested in all his glory. The culmination of this hour will take place when he is lifted up on the cross. However, throughout his ministry there will be times when some aspects of his identity will be manifested. Chief among these will be when he performs miraculous signs. The miracles of Jesus were never mere exhibitions of supernatural power. They were always revelations of the in-breaking of the reign of God, and the time when this in-breaking should begin was determined by God, not by Jesus and, certainly, not by his mother. Jesus was saying: We cannot preempt God's time. Evidently, the hour of his glorification had arrived, for Jesus performed his first sign. Through it his glory was manifested to his disciples and they believed in him. The establishment of the reign of God had begun. Since the event was described as a sign and since a sign points to a reality deeper than what is obvious, their faith did not rest merely on Jesus' ability to perform miracles. They believed, or would eventually come to believe, the deeper meaning of the sign, a meaning somehow related to water and wine. The water was originally intended for ritual cleansing. According to Jewish custom it was to be available for rinsing the guests' hands and for washing the vessels used during the feast. On the other hand, a wedding feast with free-flowing wine was a standard image of the age of messianic fulfillment. In this first sign, Jesus transformed Jewish ceremonial into eschatological celebration, and his disciples believed in him.
The readings of this Sunday offered to us as, we begin Ordinary Time, carryover some of the themes we considered during the Christmas season. Then we celebrated the new era God inaugurated through the birth of Jesus. Now we look deeply into our minds and hearts to see just how open we are to the demands of that new era. Last Sunday we considered the manifestation of the Spirit at the time of the baptism of Jesus. This Sunday we contemplate the various manifestations of that same Spirit in our own lives. Finally, we are brought to realize that this variety of Spirit-filled ministries is intended to be a source of Christian unity and not of fragmentation or division.
One of the major themes gleaned from the readings of today is that of the call to newness. God summons us to something new, gives us a new name, provides us with new experiences, launches us into new ministries, and calls us to sing a new song of praise (Psalm 96: the responsorial psalm). This newness comes from God. As with the primordial creation, God creates out of chaos – He creates a new people out of one that was forsaken, a new land out of desolation and a new Spirit-filled community. Just as the first reading and the gospel show us that marriage is the creation of a new union, so is the salvation for which we praise God in the psalm. Even Jesus experienced a call to newness. Through Mary, God called him out into ministry, a ministry that would bring the fruits of the eschatological age of fulfillment to the whole world. This transformation of the world will be the ultimate new creation of God. The new wine Jesus provides symbolizes the intoxicating nature of the newness he brings. Christmas is the season during which we witness the in-breaking of God's newness. During Ordinary Time we see how the newness can transform the world.
We may be inclined to think of Pentecost as the only season of the Spirit, but in reality the newness of God always comes to us through the Spirit regardless of the season of the year. During Advent we saw that Mary was overshadowed by the Spirit; at the end of the Christmas season we saw that the Spirit was present at the baptism of Jesus; now we see that the new community brought to birth by God manifests the presence of the Spirit within it through various ministerial gifts. The Spirit of God is active wherever God is present to create something new. God always creates in extravagant varieties. We see it in the world around, in the people who make up the world and in the gifts that are given to these people. All comes as gift from God, but not all comes in the same way. All must be given back to God in service, but not all will be given back in the same way. There are different kinds of gifts and different forms of services and different workings. In the old world, diversity could be divisive; what one had could be a source of envy or jealousy in another. In the new world, diversity should be unifying; one performs a service that is complemented by the service of another. It is in this way that the real glory of Jesus will be manifested. When this happens, the whole world will begin to believe in him.
We may be inclined to think of Pentecost as the only season of the Spirit, but in reality the newness of God always comes to us through the Spirit regardless of the season of the year. During Advent we saw that Mary was overshadowed by the Spirit; at the end of the Christmas season we saw that the Spirit was present at the baptism of Jesus; now we see that the new community brought to birth by God manifests the presence of the Spirit within it through various ministerial gifts. The Spirit of God is active wherever God is present to create something new. God always creates in extravagant varieties. We see it in the world around, in the people who make up the world and in the gifts that are given to these people. All comes as gift from God, but not all comes in the same way. All must be given back to God in service, but not all will be given back in the same way. There are different kinds of gifts and different forms of services and different workings. In the old world, diversity could be divisive; what one had could be a source of envy or jealousy in another. In the new world, diversity should be unifying; one performs a service that is complemented by the service of another. It is in this way that the real glory of Jesus will be manifested. When this happens, the whole world will begin to believe in him.
Happy New Year! Happy Sunday! + John I. Okoye
No comments:
Post a Comment