The Wedding of Cana

Text : John 2:1-12

[1]On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;
[2] Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples.
[3] When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."
[4] And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come."
[5] His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
[6] Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
[7] Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim.
[8] He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it.
[9] When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom
[10] and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now."
[11] This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in h
[12]After this he went down to Caper'na-um, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples; and there they stayed for a few days. 

1. We noted that at this time in the liturgy, the Church celebrates the first three times that the divinity of Jesus was shown to the world, Magi (who worshipped Jesus), baptism (when the Father declared his divinity) and the wedding at Cana which is this Sunday’s gospel.
2. A footnote on Jewish weddings. They were different from our weddings today and reflected the Jewish culture. They took place in 2 parts: (i) the engagement which was considered a legal marriage and (ii) the banquet. The banquet usually took place after about the year and the young couple were not allowed to live together until the banquet took place. The intervening year or so was a time for preparation. The wife prepared her trousseau, her robe and jewels etc. The husband had two tasks, firstly to prepare a house and then to prepare the banquet.  When all the preparations were done, the banquet was held. The wife, now dressed as a bride, came to the bridegroom’s house where the banquet lasted seven days and during it the union of the young couple took place...Read more