2nd Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 20.01.2013

Isaiah 62:1-5/ 1 Corinthians 12:4-11/ John 2:1-11


Most of us carry a mobile phone. In fact Singapore has one of the highest mobile phone subscriptions per capita – about 7.5 million mobile phone subscriptions for a population of about 5 million.

And a good number of us also carry stylish smart phones, and we really have to be quite smart to use it.

But whether smart phone or just a plain simple mobile phone, there are some challenges attached to it.

One is, of course, the battery state. You can have the best and smartest phone, but when the battery goes flat, then it can become quite a useless thing.

Of course all you need to do is to get it plugged to a socket outlet and start charging and the battery problem will be solved and things will be under control.

The other problem is more critical and quite out of our control.

And that problem surfaced unexpectedly last Tuesday, and some of you may know what I am talking about.

One of the telcos, one of the mobile network service providers, had a power failure in the system, and that resulted in a network failure, meaning to say that there was no signal going to the subscribers’ mobile phones.

It lasted for about 19 hours or maybe even more. So for 19 hours, the mobile phones couldn’t connect to the internet, couldn’t SMS and the voice calls were also down.

That was something that was totally beyond our control, and when our mobile phones have no signal, then they are not much of a use.

So without warning, there was no signal, and all the things that we do with the mobile phone, all that just came to a halt.

So last Tuesday, some of us would have felt frustration, because we couldn’t do the usual things on our phone.

We would also have felt desperation, because we couldn’t contact or confirm our appointments, simply because we couldn’t reach them and they couldn’t reach us.

Inevitably, resentment would come in because we paid for the service and it couldn’t deliver. Surely we would be angry.

So such a turmoil arose just because there was no signal coming into our precious mobile phones.

And at the wedding at Cana that we heard in the gospel, there was also a turmoil.

Everybody seemed to be happy and celebrating and sharing in the joy of the newly married couple.

Of course, as in any wedding, there would be lots of food. And there would also be lots of wine. After all it is a wedding feast.

Then it seems that all of a sudden, as if without warning, there was no wine! The wine had run out!

The first probable reaction would be: How come? How come like that?

And just like when there was no signal on the mobile network, there was desperation and frustration.

Where could they go to find some more wine? Where were the shops selling the wine? Would there be enough wine in the shops?

And then there would be accusations. Somebody didn’t do his job. 

How come the wine wasn’t enough? Why?

The wedding feast was going to turn into a wedding fiasco. 

Celebration was going to turn into embarrassment.

And Mary was there, sensing the dilemma, and she went to Jesus and said, “They have no wine.”

The reply of Jesus was just so strange. He didn’t say, “What happened? How come like that?”

With a tone of indifference, He replied, “Woman, why turn to me? My hour had not come yet.”

It seemed like nothing could be done, and even Jesus didn’t seem to want to do anything.

But Mary sensed something else, and that was why she made this puzzling statement to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”

And what Jesus told the servants to do was rather mundane and menial – fill those six jars with water.

And we know the rest of the story – the water had turned into wine. 

The water that was meant to be used for washing hands and feet was turned into top grade wine!

So the wedding at Cana tells us that no wine does not mean no hope.

We often tell God how great our problems are. But do we tell our problems how great God is?

A story goes that once upon a time, following a shipwreck, one of the crew managed to hold on to a wooden remnant of the ship and was washed ashore on a desolate island. 

He stayed there for many months expecting a rescue by some other ship. He built a tent and tried to survive.

Most of the time he went to the beach and looked for signs of help from an approaching ship. He prayed fervently but his prayers were not answered for a long period, and he was losing hope.

One day, feeling much depressed and disgusted, he stood at the beach, as usual, inspecting the horizon, expecting the appearance of a ship as an answer to his prayers.

Suddenly, to his horror, he found that his tent was on fire. He rushed to the scene but was helpless. He cursed and swore and blamed God, as his last possessions were lost in the fire. 

He lost all hope and returned to the beach, ready to commit suicide in the ocean. 

As he entered the water, he could see the flag of a distant ship. A boat was fast approaching him. The sailors arrived and rescued him. 

Back in the ship, he asked the captain how did they know about his plight. The captain said, “We saw the fire and the smoke rising from that island. We sent the boat expecting some one there.”

It was only then that he realized that God's ways are mysterious. He felt sorry for blaming God for letting his only possessions catch fire. 

He realized that the fire was God's signal to the sailors in a distant ship. He learned to hope and trust in God’s love.

As in the wedding at Cana, no wine does not mean no hope. 

And even in our lives, we meet with situations that begins with “No” – no joy, no peace, no love, no help, no understanding, no forgiveness, no money in the account, no signal in the mobile phone, no idea what to do.

But just like Mary, we need to tell Jesus that we have run dry; we too have no more wine.

And yet we have to listen to Mary as she tells us, “Do whatever He tells you.”

Yes, we tell Jesus how great our problems are. Now we need to tell our problems how great Jesus is.

With Jesus, there is no situation that is of no hope. 

Let us put our hope in Jesus, and He will turn the water of our lives into sweet rich wine.