SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Week of Church Unity
Isaiah 62 - 1Cor - John 2:1-12

1.  Mother Teresa did a lot of wonderful things in the slums of Calcutta.  However she had three things against her.  First she was a catholic working in an area where Hinduism and Nationalism were very strong. Secondly, she was a foreigner. And the third, she was a woman, in a very patriarchal milieu.

Can you imagine if Mahatma Gandhi did all that work that she did?  He had seriously thought of becoming a Christian. He said, you Christians have a very cohesive and persuasive doctrine. You have a unique programme for social justice and tolerance of all people. You have a bias towards the poor and displaced in society. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating. A religion which is supposed to bring peace and harmony has followers who are so divided among themselves. The biggest scandal of Christianity is no sexual abuse, nor the misuse of power, but that Jesus' prayer "Father may they all be one" is more needed today than ever before. We start today a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

2.  Why are we so divided, when we have one Baptism? Why are we so divided when we have One Spirit to guide us and inspire us. Paul says that though we have many and varied gifts, there is one spirit. Now he was speaking of gifts within the Christian Community.  However the greatest gift is the Gift of Faith - and it is this same gift of faith that seems to divine us into Catholics and Anglicans, Presbyterians and United Church. Why are we divided?   Is it because of doctrines?

We do have many theologians wrestling with doctrinal details. They have been doing that for almost forty years. But for the person in the pew, what difference does that make? I am not speak of OLOL. We have more theologians and scripture professors here than the "ordinary catholic." But going to other parishes, I have heard so many heresies of the explanation of our ordinary basic beliefs. But that had not affected in the least the single minded and single hearted devotion to Jesus and to our Blessed Mother. They have a deep love for their Church, an admirable respect for the Pope, Bishop and Priests. They think Sisters and the next thing to God. The way they care for the poor and the sick and the selflessness in their love for their neighbour would make me think that Mahatma Gandhi would have found here the proof of the pudding that he was looking for.

3.  St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading that it is the same Spirit that inspires and guides us, no matter how we serve and no matter how we use our talents. It is important that our theologians sort out and articulate for us what we believe. But living out our faith must be simple and straightforward.

In the first reading, Isaiah calls for this same fidelity among the people of Israel. They have been in captivity. They have returned form exile and now they are building up from nothing: their synagogues.  The commandments, their covenant with the Lord is being renewed. The rites and rituals are their guidelines. In themselves the rites and rituals did not make them a people of God, just like having a hammer and saw does not make a man a carpenter.

But there some Israelites who had settled comfortably in the foreign land. They had no desire to return, they had adapted to the laws and customs of their captors. Now Isaiah is calling them back to unity with the rest of the Israelites. They will not longer be called Forsaken or Desolate. The Lord would take delight in them.

4.  However through the centuries, the rites and rituals had become very important to the Scribes and Pharisees. These rituals had become ends in themselves. They became more important than the God towards whom they were to be used in worship.  Our Gospel today shows that.

In our Gospel today, we tend to be caught in the Bride and Bridegroom, in the miracle of the water changed into wine. On another occasions we perhaps we could concentrate on that - at a Wedding Service perhaps. But for the Jews the real significance of the miracles was in the Emptiness of the Jars and in the Abundance of the Wine. If you re read the miracle you will see the actual changing of the water into wine is secondary. This miracle was not even meant as a opening night for Jesus Public Ministry. "My hour has not yet come."

5.  This Miracle, a sign as John calls it, must be taken in context with the Cleansing of the Temple of the Buyers and Sellers. In the other three Gospels it comes at the end of the Public Ministry of Jesus. Like the beginning of the end, it is the last straw that make the Authorities take steps to get rid of Jesus. In John's Gospel however, it comes at the beginning. It is the gauntlet being thrown down. It is the plan of how the Kingdom of God is going to be established.

The cleansing of the temple and the emptiness of the Jars point to the same thing: the rituals and the authority of the Scribes and pharisees were empty.

• emptiness of their teaching authority
• emptiness of their man made rituals substituting the commands of God
• emptiness of a string of new traditions which had nothing to do with tradition

6.  Now there was going to be a New teaching. It was seen in the abundance of Wine, which the Jewish people knew signified the Messianic Banquet - where according to the Book of Wisdom there would be a Banquet Table loaded with rich food: fine marrows and exquisite wines.

As we celebrate this week of Christian Unity, let us draw from our traditions, our treasures old and new. Each one of our Christian Heritages and practices have got far more things that bind us rather than divide us. Our challenge as we are nourished at the table of the Lord is to make the prayer of Jesus come true, "Father may they all be one as you Father in me and I in you."