Second Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle C

01/12/2016

January 16, 2022

Cycle C

In the first reading, the exiled Jews had returned from their long captivity in Babylon and had now returned to Jerusalem to face the destruction of everything in their city.

The prophet assured them that God had not abandoned them.

All of us at one time or another will face situations which seem impossible to handle.

These Sunday readings, assure us once again, that God will never abandon us.

The Gospel reading is about the Wedding at Cana.

We all know the story of that first great miracle that Jesus preformed there, water to wine. But it is also important to realized that Jesus recognizes and deals with the problem of no more wine. He will never abandon us. Even though he says to Mary, "Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come". He understands the difficulty and solves the problem with this first miracle.

It is so easy to forget that God loves humanity.

He will never abandon us, no matter who we are or what we have done.

He did not abandon the Jews even though they had abandoned Him.

In the second reading, St. Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthians while he was in Ephesus.
He tells them that they have each been given gifts at their Baptism, so that they could and would make Christ present in the world through their lives . God will never abandon the human race.

We too, at our Baptism have been given gifts so that we can make Christ present for others. It can be a real cop out to think that we are not gifted; or to think... others are but not me!

We are to develop and use our gifts...

Mercy,

compassion,

a listening ear,

going out of our way for another person,

love to the enemy

patience

give a helping hand

etc...

...are ways that we can continually make Christ present in our world today.

You and I are like the water, plain and simple

God changes us into a fine wine that can be a help to all.

Our Baptism has assured us that we are to be the reflected presence of Christ in our world.

Courage!

Recently I heard about what a dying man said ...

He was a father, was dying from cancer. And even in that moment, he told those around him that his pain and suffering was for people he had known in his life. Wow!

He clearly understood that he was to be the presence of Christ, even the suffering Christ.

That is also true for us everyday, both in times that go well, and in times of great struggle or even suffering. These can be a gift we offer for others.

Don't cop out!

For the times when we recognize that we failed to use our baptismal gifts, see that as a call to conversion for ourselves...Pray for a change of heart and...

...start again.

Never give up!

You have been chosen!!!