2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 96:1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
John 2:1-11
January 17, 2016
“For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will be not be quiet.”
These are the words Isaiah speaks to the Israelites as they return home from exile. Isaiah serves as a prophet of the Lord and so his calling is to speak God’s Word. He cannot be silent.
Neither should we be silent. Each and every one of us is called to help spread the Kingdom of God. However, we are each called in different ways. We are not all called to be prophets in spoken word like Isaiah.
As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, … there are different forms of service, … there are different workings.” God has blessed each of us with different gifts to use in different ways. We only become all we can be when we use our gifts to help others.
This is good stewardship. This is good discipleship. We need to follow Jesus. In our gospel today, Jesus is at a wedding along with his mother, Mary. Mary realizes there is a “big” problem, they have run short of wine. I say “big problem” loosely because as one who doesn’t drink, I don’t see running out of wine as a problem but to the wedding guests this would be a problem.
What does Mary do? She goes to Jesus. Why? Because she trusts that Jesus can help. She doesn’t know what Jesus will do but she knows he will do the right thing. Her words are simple, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Of course, Jesus helps. He directs the servers to fill the jars with water and then changes the water into wine. Jesus takes what the servers have done and turns it into something wonderful.
The Holy Spirit gives each of us gifts. We are called to use these gifts not for selfish gain. We are given talents that we can use to help make our church better. When we use these talents, we give of our time. We can also use what we have been given as treasure, money and other material things to help people. We can give of our treasure by taking things that we have that we might no longer need and give them to charity to help someone who doesn’t have enough.
We can also give of our treasure by contributing money. This is not about “paying our dues.” When we give of our treasure, it is to help our church accomplish the mission that God has given us.
What has Jesus given you and how are you using it as a good steward and faithful disciple?