Back from church o! How about you, did you go to church service today?
The Gospel reading of today in all Catholic churches in the world, is about the wedding at Canan where Jesus and Mary, His Mother were invited.
The Priest that preached on this today, did a good job. So I felt that I should let us all into his preaching.
He started out by recounting to us the Gospel reading concerning the wedding.
He recounted how Mary noticed that the wine the wedding couple provided for the guests had finished.
He told us that the Jews placed so much importance on wine in those days that if anyone was organising a wedding and did not provide enough wine for his guests, that it meant that the marriage will be fallen by a bad omen.
It will be either that the marriage will not last, or something bad will happen to the couple.
So whenever someone invited guests for a wedding, there is usually enough wine.
But unfortunately for this couple, their wine finished, despite their careful preparation.
So when Jesus and Mary who were actually invited to the wedding came, Mary immediately noticed that wine had finished.
So she quickly told Her Son that the wine had finished.
But Jesus rebuked Her, asking Her what business did they have concerning wine finishing.
Mary turned to the maids serving the couple, telling them that they should do whatever He told them to do.
Then Jesus told the servants to fill the empty water containers with water. After the servants did so, Jesus told them to take a sample of what He has done to the water to the ewne taster.
The wine taster was amazed about how the couple would decide to serve the best wine last, instead of first.
So the Priest told us that about the lessons in this Gospel reading.
- Mary was and is very concerned about what happens in people’s lives.
She did not want the couple shamed or have any bad omen following them. So She quickly intervened.
Thus, we too should be concerned about what is happening to other people around us and be ready to help.
That we should not wait until we are called to help, before we render help.
- Now, because the couple invited Jesus into their wedding, they were able to escape a bad omen that would have befallen them.
In such manner, we should learn to invite God into our lives and into whatever we do.
The Priest went on to remind us about one politician in Brazil, who was so confident that if he got five hundred thousand votes, that he will win the election and seat on the Presidential seat, and not even God could stop him.
So, on the election day, he got the five hundred thousand votes, but he did not sit on the Presidential seat.
A day before he was to be sworn in, he fell ill and died.
The Priest told us another story about the ship called the Titanic.
When the news reporter was interviewing the man who built the ship about the safety of the ship.
The owner of the ship told the reporter that the ship is so safe, that not even God could sink it.
And we all know what happened to the Titanic ship, how it sank on the first day of it being used.
Then the Priest told us another story, about a young girl in Brazil, who was going out to have fun with her friends.
When the girl’s friends arrived at her house to pick her, the mother went with the girl to the car to see her friends.
On getting to the car, the mother was disappointed when she saw that all her daughter’s friends in the car were drunk.
Seeing that she couldn’t stop her daughter from going with her friends, she told the daughter to invite Jesus to go with them.
The girl made a joke of it and told her mother that since the car was full and there was no space in the car for Jesus to sit with them, that Jesus can go to the booth of the car to stay, if He wants to go with them.
On their way to have their fun, the car they were in had an accident and everyone d!èd, including the woman’s daughter.
The car was do badly damaged, that no one could recognise the make of the car.
But, the booth of the car, was left intact and even the crate of eggs in the boot, none had a cracking.
So these stories are teaching us that we should invite God into whatever we are doing. And not allow pride to over take us. And if we fail to invite God due to pride, then we will fail.
I think a word is enough for the wise.
From: Oduigwe Chidera Dok, copied from Dr. Julian Ogwunga, editor in Chief at brainplushospital.com
