Tuesday, October 09, 2007

The Luminous Mysteries - The Self-revelation of the Lord at the Wedding Feast of Cana

The second mystery of light is the first of the signs, given at Cana (cf. Jn 2:1- 12), when Christ changes water into wine and opens the hearts of the disciples to faith, thanks to the intervention of Mary, the first among believers.

He reveals himself as Lord and miracle worker.

In the mystery of light, apart from the miracle at Cana, the presence of Mary remains in the background.

The Gospels make only the briefest reference to her occasional presence at one moment or other during the preaching of Jesus (cf. Mk 3:31-5; John 2:12), and they give no indication that she was present at the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist.

Yet the role she assumed at Cana in some way accompanies Christ throughout his ministry.

The revelation made directly by the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan and echoed by John the Baptist is placed upon Mary’s lips at Cana, and it becomes the great maternal counsel which Mary addresses to the Church of every age: “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5).

This counsel is a fitting introduction to the words and signs of Christ’s public ministry and it forms the Marian foundation of all the “mysteries of light” (RVM, 21).