II SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
A TIME OF HOPE
By our Pastor, Fr. Carmelo Jiménez
We are beginning Ordinary Time and the question comes to mind: What is Ordinary Time? It does not mean that it’s a less important or less solemn time. It is the longest time of the liturgical cycle: 34 Sundays of the 52 Sundays of the year.
Ordinary Time brings the grace to help us grow and mature in our faith, our hope and our love, and above all, to joyfully fulfill the Holy Will of God. This is the grace that we should be looking for and asking God for during these 34 weeks of Ordinary Time. The official color of Ordinary Time is green which signifies hope. That is why the Preface for Sunday #VI says, “For in you we live and move and have our being, and while in this body we not only experience the daily effects of your care, but even now possess the pledge of life eternal. For, having received the first fruits of the Spirit, through whom you raised up Jesus from the dead, we hope for an everlasting share in the Paschal Mystery.”
“For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch.” (Is 62: 1-2) The prophet Isaiah presents his people, who are tired from a difficult situation, the unbreakable fidelity of God. The prophet Isaiah is known as the Prophet of Hope. With these words he wants to infuse in his people hope, because God keeps his word with faithfulness and they are his first and passionate love. Israel only has to correspond to this free and generous offer. The future is possible because the provident God who has directed the past keeps his promise. God never, ever breaks his covenant with his people.
“Jesus told them [the servers], ‘Fill the jars with water.’ So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them, ‘Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.’” (Jn 2:7-8) The Gospel of Saint John chooses the framework of a wedding to reveal that Jesus has begun to make things new. Jesus’ miracle of turning the water into an excellent, quality wine symbolizes the ancient Jewish practices: the law and the ancient rituals, for eternal life. Jesus comes to substitute it with something totally new, symbolized by the excellent wine. This wine represents the new and definitive covenant of God with man. Man is invited to live the experience of the love of a God who is faithful in his promises and in his word.
“His mother said to the servers, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’” (Jn 2:5) The Virgen Mary has a broad mission which begins as the mother of Jesus, but which is extended to encompass all of humanity, especially the disciples of Jesus. Mary’s task is to bring man to Jesus: “Do whatever he tells you.” Jesus has the true word of life.
May this Sunday be in anticipation of the Spirit of renewal, which is the source of multiple graces for the building up of the Church. May we also know that we are under the protection of Mary, Most Holy with her intercession on behalf of us, her sons and daughters, with the firm hope that God always fulfills his promises. As we begin our Ordinary time, let us ask: Help me grow in my faith! Help me grow as a person! Help us grow as a community! Amen.