Fr. Salvador Gonzalez, OMI: “The Best Wedding Gift is Jesus”

Originally Published in The Messenger, for Spanish-speaking people in the Diocese of Belleville  Click here to read the article en Español

In the wedding of Cana, Jesus reveals himself and he makes himself present, just like in the past.

Jesus revealed himself at his baptism in the Jordan and he became present to the Magi at his birth.

Jesus reveals his glory and the disciples believe in him.

Today Jesus again chooses a marriage to reveal Himself.  When Jesus is the guest of honor at a wedding, when he is invited by the couple, Jesus makes himself present and confirms the union of the couple in its entire dimensions:  physical, sociological, and spirit.  Jesus takes something so” natural”, like the love between a man and a woman and he elevates it to the “divine”, elevates it to the status of a Sacrament.  We can say that a Catholic marriage, blessed by God, is truly a miracle because in the love of the couple Jesus is present.   God reveals his power in the marriage union.

At the wedding in Cana, Jesus transforms water into wine.  In all households where Jesus is invited, we can feel his presence and his power to transform all ordinary family events.  Today in our midst, the Cana event becomes real again. Couples that begin their life with enthusiasm and joy can find themselves losing interest in the demands of everyday life.    All human events can find themselves because of tiredness, because of the routine, because of the stress becoming just ordinary, just like the water at the wedding.  The wine, on the other hand, symbolizes joy and enthusiasm, newness of life!  Jesus can once again turn the ordinary water of our lives into the wine of joy in our lives.

The most effective remedy for many of the human tragedies is given to us by the couple in Cana:  invite Jesus to your life!  If Jesus lives in our home, to him we can go when the enthusiasm of life diminishes.  When the physical attraction is no longer there, when the love is no longer like when we began…to Jesus we can go because he transforms the  routine into something new, something generous, something divine.

Jesus can transform juvenile love into a much more profound and mature love – a love that can transcend time and space.

The invitation to Jesus into the life of a couple does not begin on the wedding date, but it begins during the courtship of the couple.  This is not a private affair between man and woman, but it is a vocation where the couple lives out their lives as individuals following together the plan that God has established for them from the beginning.

Living our vocation to matrimony means living out life in joy.  “Because there is more joy in giving than in receiving.”    Contrary to what is common belief, a vocation to matrimony is not a vocation to just “put up with each other” but it is to fulfill our lives in love, sharing our lives in all of its dimensions and transmitting to others the truth of this life fully.  The married couples are authentic witnesses of the love of God for all of humanity.

This miracle of Jesus can only happen with the presence of the virgin Mary.  Let’s remember that she was equally invited to the wedding as Jesus was.  In these times, where we lack the love, energy and spirit of the wine, a time in which selfishness seems to have the upper hand, the invitation to the Virgin Mary becomes necessary to repeat the miracle of love and life.  With her intercession, Jesus can again transform water into wine and she could insist to the couple “Do whatever he tells you”)John 2:5).