Second Luminous Mystery: The Wedding at Cana

Second Luminous Mystery:
The Wedding at Cana

Our Lady’s words at the wedding at Cana “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5) are beautifully intertwined with her example of such feminine virtues as receptivity, attentiveness, compassion, and patience as she makes known the needs of the wedding guests to her Son, the Heavenly Bridegroom. It is with the same care she displays at Cana that she acts as our Mother and supreme intercessor, example, and guide who will lead us to the Heavenly marriage banquet. Yet, to arrive at the Heavenly wedding feast, we must know what it is our Lord is telling us to do. Our Lord directs the waiters to fill the jars with water and they do so “to the brim” (John 2:7). Likewise, our Lord asks us to fill our hearts and minds with that which is true, good, and beautiful and to be diligent in the practice of virtue. It is in our striving for the sainthood of which we are called that we find true wholeness, happiness, and freedom. But, this cannot be an effort of ours alone; we must cooperate with God’s grace. The Gospel narrative continues with our Lord turning the jars filled to the brim with water – the work of human hands – into wine worthy to be served first. Therefore, our Lord makes perfect our efforts for holiness through grace. With our water turned into wine, we participate in His Divine Life in the present while waiting to join Him in at the Heavenly feast! In times of trial and temptation or when our jars are not filled to the brim, may we have immediate recourse to Mary our mother, who is full of grace, most pure, most prudent, and most powerful. May we trust she will intercede for us with the same love and concern she showed for those at the wedding at Cana in order that we may respond to God’s grace and rejoice in the fullness of life.

Written by Sr. Teresa Christi Balek
Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist