My Delight

We begin with the prophet Isaiah. Most of us don’t realize that Isaiah was part of a triplet.  There were three Isaiah’s or at least the authors adopted the name Isaiah to make their warnings and prophecies more attractive and believable. That was common practice.  In fact, a few of Paul’s letters were not written by him such as his letters to the Ephesians, Colossians, and Hebrews. Those letters had unknown authors who attributed their words and ideas to Paul, often contradicting Paul and causing confusion.

After being conquered by the Babylonians and exiled, a prophet the biblical writers called Second Isaiah, urged his suffering people to have hope that God would send someone to save them. Their hope was realized when the exile ended. The people believed God sent the Persian King Cyrus to conquer the Babylonians. Cyrus allowed the Israelites to return home.  

That brings us to our first reading from Third Isaiah who lived after the Babylonian exile when the people were rebuilding their ravaged lands and ruined temple. Now that the exile was over, the people would no longer be called “Forsaken’ or their land “Desolate.”  

In fact, the people were now called “My Delight” and the land “Espoused,” meaning engaged with Isaiah saying: “As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you, and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.” Isaiah spoke of a wedding with God being the bridegroom and the people being the bride. Quite descriptive of a covenant relationship between God and the Israelites.

How many of us feel forsaken and desolate this new year because we have we done something to hurt those close to us – someone we love? We are now alienated from them, and we hurt inside. We have guilt and a sense of loss. We now live in a land called “desolation.” We feel empty and destroyed by our own hands, or mouths, or fingers that abused others through what we have typed on our computer or phone keyboards. We have been insensitive, insulting, and thoughtless.

What must we do to leave that desolate land? There is a clear way – a well-defined path. Seek forgiveness.  Say we are sorry to those we love in friendships and marriage. Through forgiveness we can rebuild ravaged and ruined relationships. We don’t want to remain exiled from one another – forsaken and desolate. This is especially true in marriages.

The subject of marriage is used by John in our Gospel reading. Jesus, his disciples, and his mother are at a wedding in Cana. In this clever story full of meaning and symbolism, Jesus’ Mother, Mary, stands for the Church, and she tells the servers: “Do whatever he tells you.” 

All of us here in this church and viewing on-line are Jesus’ servants – or at least we are supposed to be.  We follow him and are to serve him by obeying his commandments such as loving our neighbors. We are to do what he has told us, and not begrudgingly but with enthusiasm and commitment. Admittedly, most of us, including me, sometimes fall short. It’s hard to live up to all of Jesus’ expectations. At least we must try.

Now, according to John, Jesus had his disciples fill with water six stone water jars used for Jewish ceremonial washings. Each jar held 20-30 gallons.  That’s a lot of water for Jesus to turn into wine.

We all know that wine comes from grapes. All of us are like those grapes on Jesus’ vine. Through the Eucharist with the wine being the blood of Christ, we are made grape-like, rich, and colorful meaning through our faith we are transformed, like the wine, to be intoxicated by what we have received. The Eucharist is supposed to “intoxicate” us with feelings of belonging, love, truthfulness, and thankfulness.

That is what happens through our Eucharistic celebration and sacrifice when we receive the body and blood of Christ.  Because Christ is sacramentally present under each of the species – bread and wine – communion with bread alone makes it possible to receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace. In a spiritual way, we become wine – his blood – and are perfected in and through Christ.

However, we have a warning.  At John’s wedding in Cana the wine ran short, and then they had no wine.  We cannot let that happen to us. We cannot forget who we are as Christians and followers of Jesus our Christ. We should not – we cannot – sour ourselves through bad decisions and immoral behaviors.

Wine can go sour; it can become vinegar and smell like cardboard or even sweaty socks.  How many of us smell that way?

Therefore, all of us bodies – or human bottles of wine, of blood – let’s remember who we are. We have Catholic identities and responsibilities we all received at our baptisms through the words that were said and the water poured onto us. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, may we pour out our own rich and fragrant wine – our love for others – that must never run short. It must be everlasting, and in that way, no one will be forsaken or made desolate. All will be our “Delight” and “Espoused.”

Deacon David Pierce