Luminous Mystery—Wedding At Cana [7 of 20]

The Marriage at Cana (Les Noces de Cana) by James Tissot, French, 1836-1902

S

econd Luminous Mystery—Wedding At Cana. His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you." Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them to the brim (Jn 2:5-7).

The wedding at Cana is the perfect setting for the mother of all of Jesus's miracles to take place. Mother in three senses, first, it is the first miracle of Jesus and, second, it occurred at a mother's behest, and third, it arose out of a necessity in just the same manner as many technological inventions or innovations have been discovered. An ancient proverb says, "Necessity is the mother of invention." Imagine right from the scriptures, we see the invention of the first miracle of Jesus which came as a result of a felt and expressed need. First, it was felt by a mother and, second, expressed to Jesus through a mother who points out to the son that the party had run out of wine, hence, the host needs all the help they could get.

One very unique painting by French artist James Tissot portrays the miracle with faithfulness to the Jewish ritual. "The Marriage at Cana" (Les Noces de Cana) depicts the separation of women from men during such public events. The artist suggests to his audience how it must have been like for Mary to communicate to Jesus the news about the wine running out of supply. Tissot uses a partition made of wroth iron grills to cordon the surroundings of the main wedding hall full of men thus preventing access from the outside where all the women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, are allowed to stay. A mechitzah, literally "separation," is any barrier in a traditional synagogue that separates women from men during worship. Tissot situates Mary in Saint John's Gospel as standing behind the mechitzah when she told the servants—pointing to her Son—"Do whatever he tells you." (CF Jn 2:5). Jesus then miraculously turns jars of water into wine. The men seated at the feast tables are astonished as they curiously peer in disbelief over the table to look at what is inside the jars. Some of those men are Jesus's new recruits who belong to the Twelve. This is their first time to witness Jesus's divine powers.

One beautiful fruit that I derived from contemplating Tissot's masterpiece is the close relationship between a mother and her son and how such a relationship is unbreakable and powerful. Pope Francis said in the Consistory Hall of the Apostolic Palace on May 8, 2017 (ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO THE COMMUNITY OF THE PONTIFICAL PORTUGUESE COLLEGE IN ROME) about the Motherhood of Mary that helps us cultivate a mother-child relationship that brings forth life and faith sustaining relationship, foremost of which is our relationship with the Mother Church, which is the mystical body of Christ and vessel of spiritual and life-giving food and drink,

"The relationship with Our Lady helps us to have a good relationship with the Church: both of them are Mothers. You know, in this respect, the comment of St Isaac, the abbot of Stella; what can be said about Mary can be said about the Church, and also about our soul. All three are female, all three are Mothers, and all three give life. We must therefore cultivate the filial relationship with Our Lady because, if this is missing, there is something of the orphan in the heart."

Additional Material:

Baptism Of Jesus [6 of 20]

Proclaiming The Kingdom [8 of 20]

St Bernard of Clairvaux: "The Last of the Church Fathers"

Fr JM Manzano SJ