The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

The Gospel reading assigned for today is about the first public miracle of Jesus. He changed water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana.

Unsullied marriage is beautiful and honorable. Marriage is a high and noble vocation for those called to it by God. However, those who boldly embrace this life without a true calling from God only bring sorrow and suffering upon themselves and others. We find in marriage many difficulties. The water in the stone jars represents the various problems encountered in the marriage state. However, we see that when we invite Jesus into our lives, He turns the water into sweet wine, so the married state's sorrows He transforms into the greatest joy. In every marriage, we should make sure that Jesus is invited and is welcome.

Without Jesus in our lives, we may find pleasure like brute animals, but true happiness will always be lacking. The same is true in our married life. Without Jesus, our marriages are doomed to failure. It is a life of sorrow and suffering. There are worldly and physical pleasures, but bitterness and pain often accompany these. When Jesus has a place in our married lives, we still have our crosses, and we still experience the pleasures of the world, but Jesus adds to that happiness and true joy. The empty and tasteless aspects of our lives Jesus transforms into the most incredible sweetness.

While we honor holy matrimony, let us not forget the more incredible honor of virginal vocations. The Virgin Mother Mary requested the miracle in the Gospel. Jesus, Our God and Savior, also remained unmarried. St. Paul tells us that the virginal state is the higher calling. Only those who cannot follow this high vocation should be allowed to marry. St. Paul's teaching is not a commandment or a law but rather a principle or precept.

The Virgin Mary was the one who saw the embarrassing situation and brought it to the attention of Jesus. Likewise, those in the virginal religious or clerical state are more likely to see the need and seek the help of God. The priests and religious maintain a much broader perspective than those bound to a spouse and children. Indeed, single people are often very self-centered. Married people often expand their self-centeredness to include their spouse and children. The virginal state of the religious or priest is the one that is nearer to God, and therefore, the one with the most expansive and clearest perspective.

In the married state, we often become so absorbed in the cares of the world that we forget how good the gifts of God are. It usually takes the simplicity and freedom of childhood or the virginal state of religious life to give us the necessary perspective to see, appreciate, and honor God and His many precious gifts. It is odd because the married state is often blessed with some of God's greatest gifts — precious children made in His Image and Likeness.

It seems that those to whom God gives the most appreciate it the least. With God's blessings come some bitter crosses that can only be made joyful when Jesus is present. Married people become so consumed in the physical world that they forget that they need Jesus' help and find their lives empty, tasteless, and even bitter at times.

The virginal state of religious demands vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. They possess the least in this world but have a greater appreciation for the blessings of God that they have freely sacrificed for the love of Him. The religious may never love a child as a parent can, but a religious often has a much purer spiritual love for the children than their parents do. Parents often see their children as an extension of themselves, and the selfish love that parents have for themselves is often extended to their children. They love their children with a self-centered or selfish love that usually does not include God. These parents have children that bring them some pleasure but little true joy. It is not the fault of the children or God but of the parents' sins. When the children follow the example of their parents, they cause their parents many heartaches as well.

Whatever station in life we find ourselves in, we need to welcome Jesus and Mary into our lives. Life is unbearable without God's graces. Children find meaning, love, and joy in their lives when God has a place in their lives. Single, married, and religious, as well, are also seeking the joy and happiness that can only come from God. Our lives are boring, monontonous, painful, empty, and sad without God. This is the primary cause of many mental disorders of depression, anxiety, suicide, etc. The absence of God from the lives of couples and families is the primary cause of discord, divorce, broken families, and single parents. Whatever difficulties we have in our lives, we simply need to invite Jesus and Mary to come in. Mary will ask Jesus to turn the bitter waters of our lives into the best wine ever. Our crosses will then be made sweet, light, and joyful.

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