Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C
Reflecting on John 2:1-11
Water, of course, is vital to every organ in our bodies. But I’m willing to bet that those wedding revelers, even in a land of intermittent and dangerous drought, would NOT have been happy to see their wine cups filled with water, even if, as was often the case, the wedding feast had already gone on for a week.
Can you imagine the riot that might have ensued if they had seen the servants pulling up water from those six stone water jars? What? They expect to entertain us with 180 gallons of water? Sure, we expect the next rounds to be the inferior stuff, but water? Wait ‘til word gets out about this!
But what? The water has now become the finest wine of the wedding! Water has been transformed into intoxicating wine. How can this be?
In this new year, take a few moments to reflect on the miraculous transformations in your character and spiritual life. How can the resentments and grudges we’ve nourished for years have long since disappeared? How can the destructive habits we allowed to go unchecked for years have been replaced with healthier and more life-affirming lifestyles?
God is always about the work of transforming us and giving us the grace to be better. But I ask us all to resolve this year to pray for all those in the grip of addiction, the most complex transformation of all. O healing Christ, we beg you to touch all who struggle to maintain sobriety of any kind. Turn the water of their cravings into the new wine of confident and secure recovery. And we will do whatever you tell us.
Readers, imagine those who need this healing, and remember to pray for them this year.
Kathy McGovern ©2025