Homily for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 19, 2025

Today’s readings show us the love interaction that is happening within the Holy Trinity in which we are living by our being one with the Son Jesus Christ. 

A simple fact: God’s love interaction with us from before the beginning of time and for all eternity was, is and will be perfect and a source of endless rejoicing. 

Today, we should dwell on the perfection of this love interaction so that we can imitate it as much as it is humanly possible in our dealing with each other.  

The 1st reading reminds us that we should never allow our hearts and minds to doubt the perfection of the love that God has for us as Church and as individuals. 

Like a loving husband, the Lord God is always close to us, and he tries to make the times in which we feel forsaken and desolate, as short as possible.   

We read: But you shall be called “My Delight,” and your land “Espoused.” For the LORD delights in you, and makes your land his spouse. Isaiah 62:4 

His laws and decrees are meant to lead us away from the causes of sadness and into his loving embrace. 

His commandments are designed to spare us grief and, little by little, make us his delight. Hence, we also read: 

As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; And as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you. Isaiah 62:5 

In a subtle way, the gospel passage about the wedding in Cana of Galilee, (John 2:1-11) indicates that Jesus is both the fulfillment of that solemn promise to make us “espoused” and the perfection of God’s love poured upon us with unfailing, continuous, generous largess. 

By turning water into wine, Jesus reveals so much about the love of the Holy Trinity that his disciples began to pass from being simple associates of his to believers. 

Concerning us directly, this change from associates to believers demands a pause so that we can better grasp what being believers in God’s love truly means. 

From what happened to the first disciples gradually transformed into believers by the display of Jesus’ love at the Cana’s wedding, we can state that we begin to be believers if whenever we feel desolate and forsaken, we can keep facing confidently the challenges of life by counting on the Lord’s unfailing love. 

Being transformed into believers proves that the little miracles brightening our life, keep us securely in the Life of the Holy Trinity and make us the recipients of an endless shower of blessings and gifts from above. 

Being transformed into believers sustains us as we progress from being hesitant and fearful to being bold and so generous as to be willing to make significant sacrifices for Christ Jesus and for the Gospel. 

Being transformed steadily into believers cuts down the time between rejoicing over a gift received from above and heartfelt gratitude to God.  

As this process is repeated frequently, over time, we will be so fine-tuned to God’s care for us that our thanksgiving will be a constant and natural disposition of the heart. 

Being progressively transformed into believers will endow us with a permanent sense of direction. Whenever we are confused or disoriented, we will know exactly Who will provide us with the needed light and a sense of direction, and Who will lead us on the solid ground of Faith. 

Being true believers is exactly the Father’s desire for all of us: to draw us into his loving embrace as one in the Son Jesus, and to make us “espoused.” 

However, I am afraid that this is all fine, yet still insufficient to convince us, viscerally, that the Lord our God is truly displaying perfection in his love for us.  

By “perfection” I mean the Lord’s intention to show us his love in ways unimaginable to us on this earth even after we spend a great deal of time contemplating the Crucifix and poring over the Gospel with a wide-open heart. 

However, even though on this earth it is impossible for us to appreciate and to understand the perfection of God’s love for us, we can get a hazy understanding of it by observing the type of gifts a person in love gives to his beloved and from the kind of “sign” Jesus performed at the wedding feast at Cana of Galilee. 

A man in love stretches his budget so much that he buys the most expensive diamond ring he can afford for his future bride. 

A husband in love showers his wife with the finest and most original presents he can think of. He even makes significant sacrifices to prove to her how much he loves her. 

So, how can God do possibly less than what mere humans in love can do? 

Here is the perfection of God’s love for us: God splurges on us and gives us also what is clearly superfluous. 

Indeed, Jesus provides choice wine in an incredible, extravagant abundance to people who are already tipsy and, most likely, unable to tell the difference between top-notch wine and what they had been drinking up to that point. 

To be genuine believers like the first disciples had become after what Jesus did at Cana, we must show openly that we are living and operating within the Holy Trinity in the Son Jesus.  

And this appreciation of the perfection of God’s love must include awareness that his love for us remains totally unmerited. 

Consequently, what we should take away from our reflection on today’s readings (Isaiah 62:1-5; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-11) is the fact that within the Holy Trinity there is constant rejoicing. Heaven is described as the endless wedding feast of the Lamb (Jesus Christ and all of us, his Bride).  

From this reflection, therefore, it is reasonable to draw the conclusion that being genuine believers calls us to share in the trinitarian joy by making ourselves ready to sacrifice ourselves totally and unreservedly the way Jesus sacrificed himself for us on the cross.