Spiritual Communion for The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
✠In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Today we recall Our Lord's third manifestation or epiphany,
which occurred during the family marriage in Cana.
It begins with Mary’s prompting;
this was the time for His glory to be known.
We need to heed Mary’s words –
“Do whatever He tells you.”
When we fail to listen to Jesus, let us acknowledge our shortcomings,
and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
I confess to almighty God
that I have greatly sinned,
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
May Almighty God have mercy on us, ✠ forgive us our sins,
and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
COLLECT: Almighty ever-living God,
who govern all things both in heaven and on earth,
mercifully hear the pleading of your people,
and bestow your peace on our times.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM 95
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
O sing a new song to the Lord,
sing to the Lord all the earth.
O sing to the Lord, bless his name.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
Proclaim his help day by day,
tell among the nations his glory
and his wonders among all the peoples.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
Give the Lord, you families of peoples,
give the Lord glory and power,
give the Lord the glory of his name.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
Worship the Lord in his temple.
O earth, tremble before him.
Proclaim to the nations: “God is king.”
He will judge the peoples in fairness.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 2:1-11)
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee.
The mother of Jesus was there,
and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited.
When they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the wedding
was all finished, the mother of Jesus said to him,
“They have no wine.” Jesus said, “Woman, why turn to me?
My hour has not come yet.” His mother said to the servants,
“Do whatever he tells you.”
There were six stone water jars standing there,
meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews:
each could hold twenty or thirty gallons.
Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water,”
and they filled them to the brim.
“Draw some out now,” he told them, “and take it to the steward.”
They did this; the steward tasted the water,
and it had turned into wine.
Having no idea where it came from –
only the servants who had drawn the water knew –
the steward called the bridegroom and said,
“People generally serve the best wine first,
and keep the cheaper sort till the guests have
had plenty to drink; but you have kept the best wine till now.”
This was the first of the signs given by Jesus:
it was given at Cana in Galilee.
He let his glory be seen, and his disciples believed in him.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
THE ADDRESS Mary said to him - “They have no wine.”
What a disaster THAT could have turned out to be.
“They have no wine,” Mary tells Jesus.
Did the couple getting married know that?
Probably not.
Perhaps the Chief Steward did.
Mary’s words were not a condemnation but simply an observation.
“Why tell me about it?!” – queries Jesus,
But how well she knows her Son;
and she simply says to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you”.
Mary stood quietly at the door.
She held that door open for something to happen,
because she knew it would.
Her entreaty was a prayer of petition to her Son.
Mary is simply holding open the door for something to happen,
the door to a new possibility,
the door to a new life,
the door of hope.
Isn’t that really what we are doing every time we pray?
We’re holding open the door between us and Jesus,
Between others and Jesus;
And Mary is there, holding open that door
for possibilities to happen.
Every prayer of petition is telling Jesus
about where the wine has run out.
“They have no wine.”
With these words Mary speaks a truth about OUR lives too,
a truth that at some point we all experience.
There comes a day for us when the wine gives out….
· The glass is empty.
· The party is over.
· On that day life seems empty and dry.
· There is no vibrancy or vitality.
· Nothing is growing or fermenting within us.
· Our world is colourless and tasteless.
· The bouquet of life is absent
· and we are less than fully alive.
Too often we live with the delusion of our own self-sufficiency.
That is shattered on the day the wine runs out
and the jars of our lives stand empty and dry.
We were never intended to be self-sufficient.
Regardless of how bad it can feel,
the day the wine runs out is the day a miracle can happen.
Christ does not simply dole-out refills,
He transforms our dullness, our ordinariness,
Into something lively and invigorating.
Every moment of every day Christ pours Himself
into our emptiness.
He is the good host who brings out the best for us and in us.
He is the best vintage; extravagant, abundant, endless; when -
· sorrow is turned into joy,
· despair into hope,
· fear transformed into courage
“They have no wine,” Mary said.
Jesus is not an observer of human misery,
He is in it with us;
and He wants the very BEST to happen,
not failure – just as He did quietly at the Wedding.
Mary is not only present at Jesus first miracle at the wedding at Cana,
she requested it.
SO WHAT DOES THIS PASSAGE TEACH US?
1. You’ll get a better hearing if you ask Mary to ask with you!
2. Jesus wants the very best for us;
3. Everything Jesus touches becomes much better than it was before.
4. The advice Mary gave to the servants,
"Do whatever He tells you"
she gives also to us, the servants of Christ today.
We must listen attentively to His Voice.
Lord Jesus, you taught your disciples to be persistent in prayer,
give us patience and courage never to lose hope,
to trust in your miraculous presence,
and always to listen attentively to your Voice; Amen.
PRAYERS For the Church: that inspired by Mary’s words, we may become better disciples by doing all that God asks of us
For a spirit of gratitude: that we may appreciate the abundance of God’s generosity toward us and rely upon God who never tires of providing for us
For the unity of all Christians: that God will heal the wounds in the body of Christ and help us to give common witness to God through prayer and acts of loving compassion
For healing of the divisions within the human family: that racism, sexism, and prejudice may cease and that each person may be welcomed with dignity and respect
For all who work for social and racial justice in our society: that they may faithfully give witness to the Good News that all people are daughters and sons of God
For an end to violence in families, amongst neighbours, and in our urban streets: that God will turn hearts from violence and help all people to work together to build the City of God
For all who are ill: that God will bring healing to all who are sick, protect the human family from the spread of the virus, and give strength to all healthcare workers.
We ask Mary to pray with us, as we with her
bring our care and concern for the situation
in which we find ourselves
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,
blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of our death.
Come Holy Spirit of God,
Spirit of integrity, tenderness, joy and vibrancy;
As Jesus changed water into wine,
transform us into truly being the hands, the feet
and the heart of Jesus, to love and to serve;
and give us the passion and the energy
to conform our world into Christ’s Kingdom. Amen.
At the Saviour’s command
and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come, thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil,
graciously grant peace in our days,
that, by the help of your mercy,
we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress,
as we await the blessed hope
and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
Time to sit quietly to receive the Lord’s Presence
spiritually.
Grant, O Lord Jesus Christ, that as the hem of Your garment,
touched in faith, healed the woman who could not touch Your Body,
so the soul of Your servant may be healed by like faith in You,
Whom I cannot now sacramentally receive;
through Your tender mercy,
Who lives and reigns with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit ever one God. Amen.
“My Jesus, I believe that You are present
in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart …
I embrace You as if You were already there
and unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You,”
May Our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Mary,
who turned water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana,
transform our lives and gladden our hearts;
and may the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, the Son, ✠ and the Holy Spirit,
come down upon us, and remain with us for ever. Amen.
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