Latest / Into the Mysteries of the Rosary / The Divine Wedding Guest | Into the Mysteries of the Rosary Ep 8 | Fr. James Brent, O.P.

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The Divine Wedding Guest | Into the Mysteries of the Rosary Ep 8 | Fr. James Brent, O.P. · Into the Mysteries of the Rosary

• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Brothers and sisters, welcome to Into the Mysteries of the Rosary, a mini-series of the podcast contemplata.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: We have been meditating on the mysteries of the rosary one by one, hoping to catch a glimpse of the mystery, the plan of God for our lives and for our world.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Every mystery of the rosary is a revelation of God's love for us.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: And we come now to the second luminous mystery, the wedding feast at Cana.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: We find this mystery set forth in the second chapter of the Gospel of John.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: There was a marriage in Cana, and the mother of Jesus was there.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus also was invited to the marriage with his disciples.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: In Saint John's list of guests at the wedding, Mary comes first.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: As they invited the mother, so they also invited her son.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Saint John Chrysostom explained the significance of the order of guests.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: They invited Jesus not as some great person, but merely as one among many whom they knew, even second to Mary on their list of guests.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Let proud men blush to see the humility of God, Saint Augustine says, for as God he instituted marriage itself, but as a man he agrees to be merely a guest at the wedding, even second to Mary on the guest list.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus did not disdain to become a wedding guest, for he came into this world caring more for our good than for his own dignity, and his presence at the wedding sets the stage for his first great sign.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: When they ran out of wine, Mary said to Jesus, They have no wine.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Mary sees the need.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Mary is full of compassion for the couple.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Mary goes to work to remedy their affliction.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Her request reveals her heart of mercy, and her heart has not changed ever since.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Mary is the mother of mercy.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: She looks down on you and me.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: She sees our needs and our afflictions, and she hastens to help us in every situation, for her love for each of us is very great, and no one could number the multitude of her many mercies.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now Jesus replied to Mary, O woman, what have you to do with me?
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: When Jesus said to her, O woman, he was not being rude.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: It simply sounds that way to contemporary ears, but it was a customary way of speaking in ancient times, and was often connected with compliments.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: To the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15, for example, Jesus said, O woman, great is your faith.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: And he could have said the same to his mother Mary.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: For why was she approaching him at all about the lack of wine?
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: It was because she already knew well his mercy and compassion, and she expected him to do something about the situation.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: But what was he supposed to do?
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Simply as a man, he had no wine on hand to spare.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Mary must have believed Jesus would address the situation with a miracle.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus knew the expectant faith in her heart, so in his reply to her he added, My hour has not yet come.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: What he meant, St.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: John Chrysostom explains, was I am not yet known to the persons present.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, Jesus was saying that if I work the miracle you request, then I will become manifest to all in a new way, no longer just as an ordinary guest, but as someone extraordinary.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Understanding him well, the woman who brought him into the world now moves to manifest him to the world.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Mary turned to the servers and said, Do whatever he tells you.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Those simple words of Mary are worth pondering at length.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Many people read many spiritual books, always looking here and there for direction on how to live their lives.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: But Mary summarized many spiritual books in a single statement full of light.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Do whatever he tells you.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: One might call it the spiritual doctrine of our lady.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Do whatever he tells you.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you and I would but heed her words, listen for the voice of Jesus, and be not hearers of the word only, but doers, then our souls would grow in grace much more rapidly.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: God is the one who secretly inclines us from within, to listen and to do good works, of course, but it behooves us to listen to him, and to do them nonetheless.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Now there were six stone jars standing there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons of water.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: In response to Mary's petition, Jesus turned to the servants and said, Fill the jars with water.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: They filled them to the brim.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: By involving the servers, rather than doing it just by himself, Jesus reveals his preferred way of ministering salvation.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: He does not minister salvation alone, but through others.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: He also works gradually and by stages.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: First the servers filled the jars to the brim, then they drew some out, then they took the water now made wine to the steward of the feast, and the steward in turn called the bridegroom.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: The substance of the water had vanished, and what was now on hand was true wine, choice wine, an abundance of the best wine.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: If we do the math, Jesus produced between 120 and 180 gallons of fine wine.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: That is somewhere between 600 and 900 standard size wine bottles, a proof that God is rich in mercy indeed.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Wine is the symbol of nuptial love.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: In this mystery it stands for God's will to unite the human race to himself in the closest bond of love.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: It stands for the abundance of grace God lavishes upon us in Christ.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Every grace he gives us draws us to himself, unites us to himself, in a manner far beyond all our natural strength.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ is the bridegroom.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: His nuptial bed is the cross.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: His blood poured out is the revelation of his human and divine love for us.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: What is more, when Jesus died for us, he did not simply depart from us, for on the night before he died, he took a cup filled with wine, blessed it, and gave it to his disciples to drink.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: The blood of Christ is the only drink that really saves.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: For the blood of Christ is love beyond all telling.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: The wedding feast at Cana also holds a lesson for married couples everywhere.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: For in every marriage, love tends to cool.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Familiarity breeds contempt, they say, but even more so, sin ruins marriage in ways great or small.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps the sins are just little ones, little forms of disrespect, one after another, day in and day out, little omissions to show love and kindness.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: It does not take much, and it does not take long, and lo, the wine has run out.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Every marriage needs the compassion of Mary.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Every marriage needs the powerful influence of Jesus to make it work.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Catholic common sense says that married couples should call upon Jesus and Mary every day to work in their marriage, to turn the water of daily life into the rich wine of nuptial love, and to make all things new once again.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: He did it for the couple at the wedding feast at Cana.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: He will do it for you too.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to this episode of Contemplata.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: Be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends wherever you listen to podcasts.