By Fr. Sheldon Tabile, O.Carm.

Day 8

July 14

Mary, the Obedient Daughter of the Father

Gospel Reading: The Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11)

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, “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.” So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.

Points for Reflection

1. ‘Do whatever He tells you’ is an address not only for the waiter. But for Mary herself. If there is someone who listened to God and carried out God’s message, it is Mary. Mary is the perfect model of doing something because God asks her to do it.

2. Mary knew what will happen if one is willing to listen and to do what God asks them to do… miracle.

3. To listen and do God’s will is obedience. And only those who can obey will witness on going miracles in their life.

Fr. Sheldon is Assistant Parish Priest of San Isidro Labrador Parish in Bagong Silangan, Quezon City. He is currently a Fellow at the Titus Brandsma Institute in Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.