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| Photo Credit: cohdra from morgueFile.com |
Who doesn’t love to get
an invitation in the mail? My children leap
for joy when they find a birthday party invite tucked neatly inside the stack
of bills and other random mail in the kitchen.
Sometimes a tug-of-war ensues to determine which one of them gets to
open that glorious envelope, but most of the time the invitation comes out in
one piece.
When we get an
invitation, it means that another person wants our presence there, right? (Well, maybe our presents, too, but hey, who doesn’t love a present
here and there? Ha ha!). These days, invitations can come in many
forms – in the mail, in an e-mail, a text, a facebook invite, a phone call, or
possibly just word of mouth. However we’re
invited, we can all agree that it feels good to be on the receiving end.
I even remember as a
child that some kids would dangle their invitation like a carrot and say, “If
you don’t do this or that, I won’t invite you to my birthday party.” For some reason, I recall that enticement
working pretty well. I can neither confirm
nor deny that I ever said those words myself.
This past weekend in
church, Father Bentil shared with us about the wedding at Cana. I’m sure that all of the people in town were
excited to receive that wedding invitation.
During that time, weddings lasted for several days and the families of
the bride and groom were responsible for providing the food and wine until the
celebration was over. Running out of
food or wine would bring great dishonor to the family name.
Jesus’ mother, Mary,
was very concerned when she saw that the wine was running low. Maybe she was involved in the planning or the
organization of the wedding or maybe she just couldn’t bear to see the family
shamed? Either way, she knew that her
Son could do something to help the situation, so she asked.
Jesus performed His
first miracle during the wedding at Cana by turning water into wine...the very
best quality wine at that…superior to anything that had been served thus far. I’m certain that this miracle made a strong
and lasting impression. Well, here I am
talking about it some 2000 years later, so there ya have it. I’m also very sure that the family was
thrilled that they had decided to send Jesus an invitation. He was able to perform this amazing miracle
because they had invited Him.
I wonder why Jesus
performed His first miracle at a wedding? Who
knows for sure, but some say that Jesus may have chosen a wedding because it is
something that most everyone in every culture can relate to. An ordinary setting became the stage for an
extraordinary miracle. So, maybe Jesus
wants to do something extraordinary in OUR everyday lives?
First things first…we
have to invite Him. Father Bentil encouraged us to contemplate
whether or not we are inviting Jesus into our families, our relationships, our
marriages…our very hearts. Are we? Sometimes yes. Sometimes no.
Take the wine for
example. Jesus could have just turned the water into a
mediocre wine or anything comparable to that which was already being served,
right? Yes, He could have. But, He didn’t. The wine He produced was THE best! The quality of wine He made was so unbelievable
that it probably left the host family speechless, as well as everyone who
tasted it.
Don’t you think that
Jesus would do the same for us? Maybe
we don’t need Him to turn our water into wine (I didn’t just say that, did I?!), but surely He can take care of
our own needs in a big, beautiful way, too.
If we invite Him into every aspect of our lives, I’m quite certain that
He would leave us speechless as well.
When we have a
gathering, we make a list of our besties and family, but do we include Jesus? He’s patiently waiting for our invitation. And, during a time where RSVPs are few and
far between, we could count on Him to be the very first one to say, “I wouldn’t
miss it for the world!”
I don’t think Jesus
needs an ultra-fancy invitation full of glitter and confetti (although that sounds like sooo much fun!). I’m sure a simple prayer would do…one that
says, “You’re invited.”
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