Second Sunday of Ordinary Time
Prayer for the unity of the Churches. Particular memory of the Orthodox Churches.
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Second Sunday of Ordinary Time
Prayer for the unity of the Churches. Particular memory of the Orthodox Churches.
First Reading
Isaiah 62,1-5
About Zion I will not be silent, about Jerusalem I shall not rest until saving justice dawns for her like a bright light and her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will then see your saving justice, and all kings your glory, and you will be called a new name which Yahweh's mouth will reveal. You will be a crown of splendour in Yahweh's hand, a princely diadem in the hand of your God. No more will you be known as 'Forsaken' or your country be known as 'Desolation'; instead, you will be called 'My Delight is in her' and your country 'The Wedded'; for Yahweh will take delight in you and your country will have its wedding. Like a young man marrying a virgin, your rebuilder will wed you, and as the bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you.
Psalmody
Psalm 96
Antiphon
Let the upright rejoice in the Lord.
The Lord is king, let the earth rejoice,
let all the coastlands be glad.
Cloud and darkness are his raiment;
his throne, justice and right.
A fire prepares his path;
it burns up his foes on every side.
His lightnings light up the world,
the earth trembles at the sight.
The mountains melt like wax
before the Lord of all the earth.
The skies proclaim his justice;
all peoples see his glory.
Let those who serve idols be ashamed,
those who boast of their worthless gods.
All you spirits, worship him.
Zion hears and is glad;
the people of Judah rejoice
because of your judgements O Lord.
For you indeed are the Lord
most high above all the earth
exalted far above all spirits.
The Lord loves those who hate evil :
he guards the souls of his saints;
he sets them free from the wicked.
Light shines forth for the just
and joy for the upright of heart.
Rejoice you just, in the Lord;
give glory to his holy name.
Second Reading
1 Corinthians 12,4-11
There are many different gifts, but it is always the same Spirit; there are many different ways of serving, but it is always the same Lord. There are many different forms of activity, but in everybody it is the same God who is at work in them all. The particular manifestation of the Spirit granted to each one is to be used for the general good. To one is given from the Spirit the gift of utterance expressing wisdom; to another the gift of utterance expressing knowledge, in accordance with the same Spirit; to another, faith, from the same Spirit; and to another, the gifts of healing, through this one Spirit; to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, the power of distinguishing spirits; to one, the gift of different tongues and to another, the interpretation of tongues. But at work in all these is one and the same Spirit, distributing them at will to each individual.
Reading of the Gospel
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
John 2,1-12
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. And they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the feast had all been used, and the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.' Jesus said, 'Woman, what do you want from me? My hour has not come yet.' His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.' There were six stone water jars standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water,' and they filled them to the brim. Then he said to them, 'Draw some out now and take it to the president of the feast.' They did this; the president tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from -- though the servants who had drawn the water knew -- the president of the feast called the bridegroom and said, 'Everyone serves good wine first and the worse wine when the guests are well wined; but you have kept the best wine till now.' This was the first of Jesus' signs: it was at Cana in Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, but they stayed there only a few days.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Homily
The Gospel passage of the wedding at Cana is put by the evangelist John at the beginning of his Gospel and in a way summarizes Jesus' entire mission. It summarizes the image of the destination of every people that all can understand and be attracted by. In the parables of the kingdom Jesus will explicitly say it when he describes the kingdom as a wedding banquet. In a world without visions and lost about the meaning of life, this passage speaks of a joyful conviviality that has an attractive power. The "sign" of Cana changed also the hearts of the disciples who right from Cana started believing in Jesus. It was a very small group that had been following Jesus for only three days, but seeing the "sign" of Cana, notes the evangelist, "believed in him." They understood that the change of water into wine clearly showed that Jesus was opening and joyful coexistence among people. Even the most established habits were turned upside down. The steward noted it: "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now." In Cana Jesus started the new kingdom: loneliness was transformed into communion, sadness into joy and death into life. Finally, the words of the prophet had become true: "You shall no more be termed Forsaken... but you shall be called My Delight."
The presence of Jesus' Mother, who was there before Jesus, amazes us. She appears like the one who watches that everything goes smoothly. She is the one realizing that wine is about to finish. Most probably we are towards the final day of the celebration that lasted more than one day. Mary immediately goes to her Son and, worried, she says: "They have no wine." We could say that it is she, well ahead of us and sometimes without us, who intercedes so that everything goes well. She feels the responsibility of love. This is why Mary says to the servants: "Do whatever he tells you." We know well that is it Jesus who performs the miracle, but he needs the servants to fill the jars to the brink, generously, almost to spill. It is the power of the prayer of intercession, a true mystery we should all discover again.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
