|
Greetings, Everyone!
When the Wine of Justice and the Wine of Compassion run short, life is drained of possibility, and instead of being a feast for the many, it becomes an orgy for the few. Such situations follow a predictable pattern: the "haves" have more" and the "have nots" have less than nothing; the elite feel entitled to the world's resources, trampling the poor to gain more of what they already have in excess. Secure in their mega-mansions, they ignore the plight of their suffering brothers and sisters, just as the rich man in Lk 16:19-31 ignores the plight of Lazarus, who lies starving at his gates.
It takes a prophet to puncture such hardness of heart, to name the injustice, and to demand a new world order; and it takes a prophet to see beyond the status quo, beyond systemic injustice, and beyond hierarchies of ill-gained power.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday we celebrate on Monday, January 20th, was one such prophet. Passionately committed to racial equality, social justice, and non-violence, he dreamed a dream for humanity. True pacifism,” or “nonviolent resistance,” King wrote, is “a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love” (Stride Toward Freedom, 80). Influenced both by the teachings of Jesus and by Mahatma Gandhi's implementation of satyagraha ("Truth force"), Dr. King gave his life for the soul of America:
“Somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right. And so just as I say we aren’t going to let any dogs or water hoses turn us around, we aren’t going to let any injunction turn us around. We are going on.”
“I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” Address Delivered at Bishop Charles Mason Temple, 3 April 1968
(N.B. These words, delivered the day before Dr. King's assassination, hold a message for the world today! I encourage you to watch the video.)
Blessings!
Elizabeth
+++
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
Link to Sunday Readings
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
and Jesus' mother was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the
wedding. When the wine ran short, she said to him,
“They have no wine.”
Jesus replied,
“Woman, how does this affect me?
My hour has not yet come.”
But his mother said to the servers,
“Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for
Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty
to thirty gallons.
Jesus told them,
“Fill the jars with water.”
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he said,
“Draw out some wine and take it to the headwaiter.”
So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water
that had become wine, without knowing where it came from
— although the servers who had drawn the water knew —,
the headwaiter called the bridegroom, saying,
“Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people
have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the
good wine until now.”
Jn 2:1-11
Why would wine run short at a wedding, particularly in a society in which hospitality is a core value? A few possible scenarios come to mind: the couple, stretched financially, may have under-catered; uninvited guests may have shown up, depleting both the food and beverages; one or more of the guests may have over indulged, drinking more than their fair share; the wait staff may have siphoned off some of the wine to enjoy after the guests leave... Regardless of the cause, running out of wine would have reflected badly on the bridegroom, embarassing him, his family and his in-laws. Mary's simple observation -- "They have no wine"-- prompts Jesus to act, albeit reluctantly. This, as it turns out, is his hour, and his response is one of transubstantiation -- turning water into wine.
We can read The Wedding Feast at Cana simply as a story that presents Jesus as a miracle worker; or we can dive deeper and see that it demonstrates compassion in action; or we might look at the narrative's Eucharistic and baptismal symbolism; or we can dive deeper still and reflect on how Jesus might transubstantiate our watery faith into a passionate response to his love. Left to our own devices, we can become "lukewarm," indifferent, oblivious to anything except our own needs. Driven by fear, we can give in to apathy, squandering time in meaningless pursuits that bring no satisfaction. When this happens, we are as empty as the stone water jars before the servants fill them with water. Spiritually "dry," we become incapable of living with passionate intensity.
Though passion is often identified with suffering (as in the Passion of Jesus Christ) or with uncontrollable emotions (as in "crimes of passion"), it also has connotations of energy, enthusiasm, dedication, and whole-hearted commitment. It can be the driving force that propels us to achieve our goals or to fight for a cause in which we believe; it is the magical ingredient that ensures couples stay in love for the long term while others drift into "marriages of convenience." It is also what animates our faith, moving us from what James Fowler describes as "conventional" faith-- that is, a faith based on inherited beliefs, values, obligations and externalized authority-- towards a faith based on our own experiences, reflections, and desire for intimacy with God. Without passion, our faith is as colorless as plain water; when transformed by the Bridegroom, however, we are animated by the Spirit, energized by Divine Love and ready to change the world.
| 
