Mary Notices

Christmas Weekday

Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family

John 2: 2-11 – There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servers, "Do whatever he tells you." Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it.  And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now." Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.

(Parent)  Reread this part a few times aloud

“When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’”

(Parent)  Read this meditation aloud to the family

The Gospel reading of today’s Mass tells of a couple’s wedding celebration in the Galilean town of Cana.  We are not told who the man and woman are; the only Man and Woman named, in fact, are Jesus and Mary.  (In reality, they are always the most important figures at any event.)  Mary provides us with some huge lessons there—two of which we will focus on in our prayer today.  First, Mary notices.  As the couple runs short of wine, Mary sees it.  It appears she sees it before others do.  In the same way, Mary sees our needs, even before we do.   Second, Mary intercedes.  Mary takes the couple’s concern, makes it her own, and brings it to her Son to remedy.  In the same way now, Mary wants to assist us in our needs with the power of her Son.

As we mentioned, the couple in need was not named.  Perhaps John doesn’t do this on purpose; perhaps John does.  He leaves important figures in his Gospel nameless in other places as well, most notably himself.  Tradition takes John’s famous “beloved disciple” to mean John, himself, but John never says that.  Whatever his reason, not naming the couple in need helps us, the readers, to do something very important.  It helps us to imagine ourselves as the couple in need.  And actually, we are in need!  In this family, we don’t have within ourselves the power or the goodness that it takes to succeed.  But there is another Man and Woman present who do have that power and goodness.  They already know our needs…and they are more than willing to help.        

As a family, pray a portion of the Rosary together (very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture passage above. (Optional: allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer.)