Signs in Cana

Friday, August 11, 2006 -- Week of Proper 13 (Clare)

"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 979)
Psalm 88 (morning) // 91, 92 (evening)
Judges 9:1-16, 19-21
Acts 4:13-31
John 2:1-12

Signs are important to John's gospel. Signs point to God's presence in the activities of Jesus. To see the signs and to understand them fosters belief that Jesus is from God.

The first of the signs that John narrates is today's story of the wedding in Cana. A social catastrophe has occurred. The wedding hosts have run out of wine. At his mother's bidding, Jesus has the servants fill large stone water jars with water, and they become wine. The feast's steward complements the bridegroom that the best wine was saved for last.

Interpreters have long enjoyed the metaphor of water turned to wine. It is an image of plain, colorless life that becomes filled with color and taste. Wine is a symbol of ecstasy. Sharing wine together is a way that people relax and enjoy fellowship with one another. There is a happy restfulness associated with wine. There is also a danger associated with its power.

Jesus' first sign in John's gospel is to act to save a celebration and feast by turning water into wine. He is the life of the party. In the other gospel stories, at his last supper with his friends, Jesus will take wine, bless it and give it to them, identifying the gift of wine with his own death. Recalling Jewish tradition that the life is in the blood, he will give his life's blood as a sign of the new life that they will recall to their presence each time they drink the cup of salvation. He is still the life of the party.

For many people Cana has again become a sign. On a recent Sunday morning Israeli missiles struck buildings in Cana and killed 56 people, 34 we children. Memories returned to a similar incident in 1996 when over 100 people were killed in the shelling of a refugee camp at Cana. Tel Aviv University political science professor Ze'ez Maoz speaks for many Israelis saying, "This war is not a just war. Israel is using excessive force without distinguishing between civilian population and enemy, whose sole purpose is extortion. That is not to say that morality and justice are on Hezbollah's side. Most certainly not. But the fact that Hezbollah 'started it' when it kidnapped soldiers from across an international border does not even begin to tilt the scales of justice toward our side." Just as the U.S.'s reliance on war has resulted in extreme civilian suffering, a civil war in Iraq and the empowerment of the region's most extreme state, Iran, so Israel's excessive violence has provoked extreme suffering and the empowerment of Hezbollah as the heroes of the Arab world.

Today is the feast of St. Clare of Assisi, who heard her neighbor Francis preach at the first gathering of his order in 1212. A wealthy and beautiful woman, she embraced "holy poverty" and spent her life serving the poor and neglected with works of mercy. During her last illness, the Pope was among the many who visited her bedside. We still use her blessing in our liturgy, first spoken from that bed: "Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. God forth without fear, for he that has created you has sanctified you, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be God, for having created me."

I wonder if a new spirit of charity and fearlessness might be the new wine that could restore life and peace to our day.

Lowell
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The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, AR