Christ the Cornerstone

Let’s not take the miraculous experience of the Eucharist for granted

The Gospel for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Jn 2:1-11) tells the familiar story of the wedding feast in Cana. The mother of Jesus informs her Son that their hosts are running out of wine. She believes that Jesus can, and should, remedy this embarrassing situation.

Jesus responds bluntly, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:4). Mary is undeterred. She turns to the servers saying, “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5). And six stone jars, each containing 20 to 30 gallons of water, are miraculously filled with wine.

The story is reminiscent of the multiplication of the loaves and fish—the only miracle of Jesus that is reported in all four Gospels. The point of both stories is that Jesus is Lord. What is impossible for ordinary human beings is possible for the Son of God.

This same Jesus feeds our hungry hearts with his body and blood through the daily miracle of the holy Eucharist. In the Eucharist, through the action of the priest and by the power of the Holy Spirit, ordinary bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood, soul and divinity of the same Jesus who performed the miracle at Cana and the multiplication of the loaves and fish. By this divine intervention, our hearts are satisfied and our hunger for God’s love and compassion are fulfilled.

As Pope Francis wrote about the multiplication of the loaves and fish:

“When Jesus, with his compassion and his love, gives us a grace, forgives us our sins, embraces us, loves us; he does nothing halfway but completely. As it happens here, all are satisfied. Jesus fills our heart and our life with his love, with his forgiveness, with his compassion. Thus, Jesus allows his disciples to carry out his command. In this way, they know the path to follow: to feed the people and keep them united; that is, to be at the service of life and of communion.”

The miracle at Cana illustrates what can happen when we take to heart the words of Mary and do whatever he tells us. Our obedience to God’s word is what makes miracles happen. Our openness to the needs of others, especially those who are most vulnerable, makes possible Christ’s healing power.

The Gospel reminds us that if we let him, God can do impossible things through us. Jesus gives himself to us completely in the Eucharist. Then he sends us out as his missionary disciples to feed others, to bring them together into one family and, as the pope says, “to be at the service of love and communion.”

In the second reading for this Sunday (1 Cor 12:4-11), St. Paul tells the Corinthians, and all of us, that “there are different kinds of ­spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone” (1 Cor 12:4-6). Our unity is revealed in our diversity. The same God who works miracles through the ordinary elements of bread and wine makes it possible for us to live together in unity, despite the differences that threaten to divide us.

God himself is three-in-one, the Holy Trinity, and he works in us to bring about a miraculous but very ordinary unity in our lives and in our world. As Pope Francis says, Jesus does nothing halfway. When he is confronted with a problem, like the shortage of wine at the wedding in Cana, he responds. The miracles he works are not self-serving. He cares nothing for the praise of others. What Jesus wants is to “be at the service of life and of communion.”

In Cana, he simply wants to grant his mother’s wish—in spite of the fact that his hour of public ministry has not yet come—and to spare his friends the agony and embarrassment of running out of wine.

In terms of the impact on the people involved, turning water into wine is not as great a miracle as feeding 5,000 people, but the fact that it happened at all is astounding.

The same is true of the eucharistic miracle that happens every day in every corner of the world. Changing ordinary bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ is not an ordinary occurrence. It is a miracle of great significance. And the fact that each of us is invited to share in this extraordinary, miraculous experience is not something we should take for granted.

Let’s not overlook the awesome beauty and power of the Eucharist. Let’s thank God for the miracles he works in our daily lives. †