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Cana is a small city, not far from Nazareth, in a mountainous part of the province of Galilee. Here is the historical context: a common place and an ordinary wedding: we don’t even know the name of the spouses, precisely because these details are not important. Instead, the important things are:
- The miracle of the water transformed into wine
- The presence of Mary, mother of Jesus
- The faith of the disciples.
With this passage, St. John the Evangelist wants to communicate to us some important information about Jesus. The text says: This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee… (Jn 2:11). This is a good translation of the Greek, which uses the word semeion, meaning “sign”. In the Gospel according to St. John, there is a series of “signs” which indicate the divine nature of Christ. The aim of the sign, of the miracle of Cana is the same. Faced with changing water into wine, we remain in awe, truly amazed. Who has this power over created things save our Creator himself? But Jesus is the Creator, together with the Father, as the same Gospel of St. John says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made (Jn 1:1,3). Therefore, the sign at Cana reveals that Christ is God the Creator.
On the other hand, the presence of Mary, mother of Jesus, has a fundamental importance because Mary guarantees that, with regard to Christ the Creator, we’re not dealing with a divine ghost, but the Word which dwelt among us. So here is the nucleus of our faith: Christ is true God and true man.
The presence of the disciples is also very significant, due to their reaction: and [Jesus] manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him. (Jn 2:11).
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Beyond the historical-literal sense, there is also a spiritual interpretation. It is quite like a bee and a flower. The flower is the literal sense. The bee takes the nectar from the flower and, through the work of the bees, the nest gets filled with honey—in other words, through diligent meditation on Holy Scripture, we are able to draw out the sweetness of the spiritual sense. Meditating on the passage of the Wedding Feast of Cana, I would like to identify the spiritual sense, through three moments of the liturgical year: Christmas, Easter, and Advent.
- In the meditation on the mystery of Christmas, which we have just recently celebrated, the Fathers of the Church often cite Psalm 18: In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs its course with joy (Ps 18:5). Who is this bridegroom? The Word of God. Who is the bride? The human nature, which Christ united to himself. Where did this union between the divine nature and the human nature take place? In the nuptial bed, in the bridal chamber—namely, in the virginal womb of Mary. So, if the bridegroom and the bride are present, we should be celebrating a wedding and a feast. But, how? There is an antiphon for the Feast of the Epiphany, which summarizes all of these elements making a new synthesis: “Today, the Church hath been joined to her heavenly Spouse, for Christ hath washed away her sins in the Jordan; the Magi hasten with gifts to the royal nuptials, and the guests are gladdened with wine made from water, alleluia!” (Antiphon to the Benedictus).
- Then, in the meditation on the mystery of Easter, which we will celebrate in a few months, the iconography of the Church offers us another image of the bridegroom. The next time you visit our sacristy, look above the main wardrobe, and you will see a picture of Christ, a bust, a dead Christ, already in the tomb, with visible signs of his pierced side. This type of icon is called “the bridegroom”. Why? In the same way in which, from the side of the bridegroom of the sleeping Adam, God took the rib and made his bride, Eve—so also from the side of Christ, sleeping on the cross, water and blood gushed forth: baptism and the Eucharist, the sacraments which constitute the Church. The bridegroom is Christ. The bride is the Church. The wedding is the Last Supper, in which Christ says: This is my body, which is given for you. This is the chalice, the new testament in my blood, which shall be shed for you (Lk 22:19-20).
- Finally, in the meditation on the end of the world, the object of our reflection during the period of Advent, there is another type of wedding. The book of Revelation says: Let us be glad and rejoice and give glory to him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come: and his wife has prepared herself. And it is granted to her that she should clothe herself with fine linen, glittering and white (Rev 19:7-8).
In this eschatological feast, the bridegroom is the Lamb who is slain. The bride is the Church, in her baptismal gown. The guests are all the saints who wear the wedding garments. Remember that in the parable, permission is not granted to the man who is without his wedding garment, and thus he cannot remain with the other guests, but he gets thrown into the darkness (cf. Mt 22:11-12). On the other hand, the guests of this banquet are those who have undergone a great tribulation, as it says in Revelation, and precisely in this way, through their suffering and fidelity to the Lord, they have washed their garments, making them white with the blood of the Lamb (cf. Rev 7:14).
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In these different representations of the heavenly marriage, where do we find ourselves? It is clear that we represent the Church, the bride. The bridegroom is always Christ. But where can we meet him? Do we celebrate with him? Do we rejoice with him? Do we feel his presence? He himself has wanted to prepare a table for us: not only the banquet at the end of time, but something accessible to us now, while we are still in this life. He has given us the Eucharist, that sacrament in which the bridegroom and the bride meet each day, and the Church nourishes the body and the blood of her spouse. Christ has loved the Church and has given his very self for her; of this love, we can be sure, not only as an objective fact of which preachers speak, but also as a subjective experience, which we experience personally, in our own bodies. When we participate in the Eucharist, in this heavenly banquet, we are renewed in that love of Christ that can never falter.