Are our worries too small? - January 16, 2022

I’ve always found it interesting that Jesus’ first miracle took place at a wedding. And that his first public display of his power was to create more wine for this celebration. It seems like his first miracle would have been some sort of healing or even something like the multiplication of the loaves and fish for the hungry crowds.

Running out of wine during the wedding celebration would have been embarrassing for the hosts, but it hardly seems like an emergency or matter of life and death. Upon reflection, it seems as if this first miracle of Jesus, while nice, wasn’t entirely necessary!

But I think this shows us something about the nature of God’s love. His love doesn’t always make sense! From a purely human perspective, it doesn’t make sense to love those who reject and hurt you. It doesn’t make sense to shower blessings on those who are ungrateful, or to give forgiveness over and over and over again.

But that is the nature of God’s love. It is extravagant and delights in giving good gifts to his children. It is a kind of love that cares about even our small worries and sufferings. Jesus certainly did not have to create the wine in today’s reading. But he did because he loved his mother, who asked him, and he loved all those who would experience joy at receiving this gift.

A priest recently reminded me that when people came to Christ seeking healing, he didn’t first ask them to rate their pain on a scale of one to ten. He simply healed them. The lesson for us then is to go to Christ with all of our problems and sufferings- not just those we think are big enough for him to care about.

This week, remember that we have a Father who wants to bring his love and healing to every area of our life, if only we seek him with confidence as his Mother did.