Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

2025 Jan 19 SUN: SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Is 62: 1-5/ Ps 96: 1-2. 2-3. 7-8. 9-10 (3)/ 1 Cor 12: 4-11/ Jn 2: 1-11

We are getting started on a course we will pursue during this entire year, and that is we are getting started on Ordinary Time, which is actually a favorite time of mine because we hear the Scriptures in a continuous fashion. Now during this year of Ordinary Time, we will be reading primarily from the Gospel of Luke. But we haven't heard from Luke yet today because we have some business yet from the Christmas season. Two weeks ago we celebrated Epiphany, which means manifestation. And associated with Epiphany are three events by which Jesus manifested himself to all of the human family. First of all, the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus. And then what we celebrated a week ago, Jesus' baptism by which he expressed solidarity with all human beings. And then finally, as John calls it, the first of his signs, the changing of water into wine at this wedding. So these are ways in which Jesus manifested himself to all peoples.

And you hear the use of that word "sign," which is really a better word than the customary miracle that people will use to characterize certain actions of Jesus. To me, miracle sounds like a performance, but this is a sign. And it comes to us actually very quietly. It was just the servers who filled the water jars who knew about it. And the head waiter did not know. And we don't know exactly whether it is as a compliment or as a puzzle to him that there's still good wine. But this is the first of the ways in which Jesus was beginning to reveal his divine identity. 

We also have, as always at this time of year, readings from St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. And this is a letter discussing many practical issues which arose in this early Christian community at Corinth, Greece. And we're reading from the last part of First Corinthians now. And St. Paul is bringing up a theme which will be developed further next week. And that is the theme of the gifts of the community. And we understand that this really is the proper way to think about the people in our life. That every one of us is a gift to the community. And we have to recognize those gifts. 

Now you and I have been hearing about the possibility of a lot of deportations from our country. And yes, we can argue back and forth about what is to be done. But you and I have to recognize that our starting point is a principle of Catholic social teaching: which is that every human being has a fundamental right to migrate. It seems to me that this is not in keeping with the idea that everybody has gifts. It seems to be a process of judging that people are first of all problems. And we have to start from another point of view: that people wherever they're from or wherever they find themselves are a gift to the community.

So we consider the gift of Jesus. And we do it in the context of a wedding. This is an image that we hear from the prophet Isaiah as well: that God has chosen his people and we are to discover that in our relationship with the bridegroom, our God, we discover the gifts that we are to share with one another, so as to build up the beloved community.