7 January 2017 - kept until now

[ Today's Readings ]

We have this confidence in God,
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 
And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask,
we know that what we have asked him for is ours.

Let us learn to ask for things according to God's will. But how can we know God's will in order to pray in accordance with it? We know that if we see someone sinning that it is not the will of God. We definitely ought to pray about that confident that God will make grace available in that situation. That's a good starting place. From there we can learn to know his will in more specific situations.

When the wine ran short,
the mother of Jesus said to him,
"They have no wine."

Even when it doesn't seem like something about which we should even bother Jesus...

And Jesus said to her,
"Woman, how does your concern affect me?
My hour has not yet come."

...it may still ultimately be his will. He may desire that the marriage feast have the joy of wine. We need to learn to be attentive to the heart of Jesus. We should try to be so close to him that we begin to understand not simply what we know he wants, or what we think he wouldn't want, but begin to feel the very same desires that he himself experiences. He really "has given us discernment to know the one who is true."

Mary knows that on some level Jesus does not want to see a marriage feast deprived of joy. She knows she can ask him for wine because she is around him enough that she feels the same thing. She knows it well enough to persist even when Jesus doesn't act right away. Why does he make her wait if it is what he truly wants?

His mother said to the servers,
"Do whatever he tells you."

Somehow the persistence of Mary allows others to get involved, to become obedient, to be used for the plan. For her part, Mary knows that this is the will of God, so she is able to persist in spite of obstacles. Because she does the wedding feast again has the joy of wine, wine even better than any they have yet tasted.

Everyone serves good wine first,
and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;
but you have kept the good wine until now.

We are called to learn where Jesus wants to bring new wine into the circumstances of our lives. He really does desire joy for his people.

Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.