You're Never Too Old To Change

When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine,
and did not know where it came from (although the servants who
had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called to the
bridegroom and said to him, “every man serves the good wine first; and
when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have
kept the good wine until now.”  This was the first of his Signs, Jesus
did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory.
-- John 2: 9-11

Surely at the beginning of the wedding meal at Cana Jesus must have prayed for a long life, sons, and the happiness of the newly-married couple, and for God’s blessing on this joyous feast to celebrate the occasion.  And later when He saw that events, the wine failing, might result in the feast NOT being joyous, how could Jesus NOT intervene, to bring about what He had prayed for?  He could do something about it, how could He not?

And when I pray in His name seeking His will for those whom He brings into my life --- if I could do something for those I pray for, how could I not?  He had to act; so must I, to do the Father’s will.  Jesus had never acted before when He made the great change at Cana; so too, regardless of our past, we can begin to make great changes with our life. 

This was the “first of His Signs” --- wondrous deeds with a purpose, giving us direction on the way we must go.  The sacraments include physical signs of the spiritual events happening in them.  This Gospel describes the changing of the wine as a sign.  In my contemplations on this event, I perceive Jesus is describing how we must spiritually change like the water to wine, and that people should physically see that change in our love of God and neighbor, our new humility, our willful giving up of self-love.  The sign at Cana showed us how we must change, like the water to fine wine, from something common to something special, which is then given to all we meet. 

Lord, change us into a fine wine for Your people, even as you changed the common waters present in the Old Testament into the fine wine of Jesus’ Presence in the New Testament.  Make us change not a little, but a lot, so that others should notice Your love.  Let those we meet taste Your Spirit within us.

It is said that it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but it was never said that it is impossible.  Behold, I make all things new.  Even if we are old, we can always change. 

Remember, at Cana He showed us that the fine wine was saved for the last.