The Second Sunday After the Epiphany
The Second Sunday In Ordinary Time
January 16, 2022
The Wedding At Cana
When Water Becomes Wine
Resources For Meditation and Contemplation
God of the Vineyard, Wine-Making-One: At the wedding feast at Cana you gladdened the guests with divine generosity, filled to the brim and flowing over.
You offer only the choicest of vintage made from the grapes of your Kin-Dom; the fruit of love that is poured out in life-giving abundance.
Your love knows no boundaries filling all of creation, people both near and far.
May the stream of your Spirit enter every nook and cranny until all are saturated in your justice-creating and peace-making realm. Be our Bridegroom, the church's betrothed, that we may serve you and one another in this day and forevermore. Amen.
Prayer For the Day
O God of steadfast love, at the wedding in Cana your Only-Begotten and Beloved One turned water into wine, delighting all who were there. Transform our hearts by your Spirit, that we may use our varied gifts to show forth the light of your love. Amen.
—https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/
Reading From the Gospels
John 2. 1-11
Three days later, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, was there.
Jesus and his disciples had likewise been invited to the celebration.
At a certain point, the wine ran out, and Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no wine.”
Jesus replied, “Mother, what does that have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
She instructed those waiting on tables, “Do whatever he tells you.”
As prescribed for Jewish ceremonial washings, there were six stone water jars on hand, each one holding between fifteen and twenty-five gallons.
“Fill those jars with water,” Jesus said, and the servers filled them to the brim.
“Now,” said Jesus, “draw some out and take it to the caterer.” They did as they were instructed.
The caterer tasted the water—which had been turned into wine—without knowing where it had come from; the only ones who knew were those who were waiting on tables, since they had drawn the water.
The caterer called the bride and groom over and remarked, “People usually serve the best wine first; then, when the guests have been drinking a while, a lesser vintage is served. What you’ve done is to keep the best wine until now!”
Jesus performed this first of his signs at Cana in Galilee; in this way he revealed his glory, and the disciples believed in him.
—Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible (pp. 2379-2380). Sheed & Ward. Kindle Edition.
Bless the Water and the Wine
—Image: Water into Wine © Jan L. Richardson
https://paintedprayerbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/blog-WaterIntoWine.jpg
Prayer of Transformation
Beloved,
you make the water of my life into wine,
my ordinary into your holy.
You request miracles of me
the moment before I know I’m ready.
What was for purification of uncleanness
you make into celebration of beauty.
You change my despair to gratitude
in secret, my dark certainty to wonder.
You make this life into a wedding feast,
my faithful marriage to the Holy One.
Always you turn piety into a party.
And always the best is yet to come.
This wine is not for discussion.
It’s to drink. It’s good. It’s really good. Let’s dance.
—Source: Steve Garnaas-Holmes, Unfolding Light
Prayer of Intercession
You, O God, are almighty, endless in power and in love. When we have no power to help ourselves help us to know we can trust in you, in your presence and in your power.
We pray for the Church that it may know its true resources and power are from you; that it may be enabled to proclaim your saving power and your love. Give your Church the ability to be a healing instrument in the world, to bring peace and to proclaim your presence.
God in your mercy hear our prayer.
We remember all who struggle for survival, the poor and the oppressed, the hungry and the homeless, all who feel powerless. We ask you to bless all who strive to bring justice and peace to our world.
God in your mercy hear our prayer.
We give thanks for all who have enriched our lives by their love and goodness. We ask that your love may be experienced in our homes and among our loved ones and friends. We pray for homes where there is conflict, violence or abuse, especially for any who live in fear or feel unable to change.
God in your mercy hear our prayer.
Give strength to the weak, refresh the weary, encourage the fearful and protect all who are endangered. We remember friends and loved ones who are ill or in need of comfort and refreshment.
God in your mercy hear our prayer.
We rejoice that you give us life in all its abundance and life eternal. We pray for all our loved ones departed that they may have the fullness of life in your Kin-Dom.
God in your mercy hear our prayer.
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Dedication
Loving God, the world is full to the brim with your grace, yet so often we see only what we do not have.
Joyful God, you call us to glorify and enjoy you forever, yet so often we insist that faith must be cut and dried, strait-laced, and serious.
Calling God, you ask for obedience to your will, yet so often we prefer our own way to yours.
Forgive our faltering faith, O God.
Soften our hard hearts, unclench our grasping hands, and open our darkened eyes, that we may follow you into Kin-Dom life. We pray to you, O God, who makes all things new. Amen.
Closing Prayer
O Divine Lover,
who constantly stirs the waters of our souls,
unconcerned with the debris and dirt
which has lain hidden in the depths for so long;
who gently lights the colours and awakens the flavours
which we had forgotten we held within us,
revealing the wine that is our true being;
With relief and gladness, we praise and And in loving response we offer ourselves
to be poured out for other thirsty ones
who long to taste the sweetness
of your generous love.
thank you
for your love and healing;
Amen.
—https://sacredise.com/water-to-wine/
Prayer To Take With You
God of the wrong crowd,
sharing bread
with the unwanted and imperfect:
take our pious disdain,
fill us with new wine,
that we might be transformed
in body and in soul.
Amen.
Going Forth
Intoxicating-Spirit, you fill us with the wine of your love.
May we drink deeply, without reservation, allowing your marriage to us to free our lives in celebration.
Bring us to that place where life is not only lived in facing the challenges of being faithful and fending off the things that would have us be true to you and to ourselves, but also in festive joy and jubilation of celebration.
For we lack the balance that is needed.
We strive to live in puritan and predictable ways as if life is a chore to be completed.
We long to extol the life that is a pure and simple gift, abundant and free.
Increase our joy.
Embolden our trust.
Sanctify our playfulness.
Inspire our imagination.
Grant us the ability to dream big and to follow those dreams.
All to your praise and glory, and to the life you have called us to live. Amen.
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons