Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” (Jn. 2:1-11)
As we step back into Ordinary Time, we cherish the gift of Christ coming into the world. s people living in kinship and communion with Christ the King, the Scriptures for this day, we might suffer as we move towards the joy of the Resurrection in our lives, and that joy is always found in our witness. And, so the day’s Scriptures begin with this Old Testament reading:
For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep still, Until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her salvation like a burning torch. ations shall behold your vindication, and all kings your glory; You shall be called by a new name bestowed by the mouth of the LORD (Isaiah 62:1-2).
This is the essence of our call to discipleship, to share in the kingship of Christ; we are called to witness on two occasions: when there is evidence of the joy of the Resurrection in our lives, and most especially when we see injustice, pain, and suffering in the world. Today’s Gospel depicts one of those witness moments, the wedding at Cana. Of course, we know the story. Witnessing has two components: what is said and what is done. We experience both here: “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 ho r has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” (Luke 2:3-5). Mother Mary speaks to her Son, who let her know that this was not the moment for which He came into the world. Rather than enter into a great debate, Mary pondered her Son’s reply and gave a five-word response: “Do whatever he tells you.”
Mary’s response is simple and powerful, and it is the response of any disciple who lives in kinship and communion with Christ, the King of the Universe. Of course, this is our response because we are conversing with Christ the King, who will tell us something.
This is the season we celebrate one of Christ the King’s adopted sons, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He followed in the footsteps of our Blessed Mother, who St. Augustine called the perfect disciple. “Do what ver he tells you.” Dr. King, an Isaiah scholar, embodied the words and the way of Isaiah when discussing the three evils that plagued our nation in his day and remain with us today. Like Isa h, Dr. King’s witness against the evils of his day was like Isaiah’s witness:
So let us stand in this convention knowing that on some positions; cowardice asks the questions, is it safe; expediency asks the question, is it politic; vanity asks the question, is it popular, but conscious asks the question, is it right. And on so e positions, it is necessary for the moral individual to take a stand that is neither safe, nor politic nor popular; but he must do it because it is right.
Amplifying his message against the three evils, King said: “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” King and other powerful witnesses to our faith, like Mary, showed us the way. In 1968, the newly-formed Black Catholic Clergy organized and witnessed in their public letter against racism in our Church. The Black Clergy’s action in 1968 made possible another witness we recently celebrated: forty years of What We Have Seen and Heard. This witness was preceded by the US Bishops’ Conference statement on eradicating racism in our country, starting in our Church. Remember the witness: Brothers and Sisters to Us, maybe our Church’s most powerful and comprehensive statement about the sin of racism. Dr. King, who e celebrate this weekend, and all others mentioned previously, we were anointed by this same Spirit. St. Paul speaks of this Spirit, saying: “But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes” (1 Corinthians 12:11).
On that August day in 1963, Dr. King spoke of a dream that had not been realized and said to the assembly several times, “Now is the time…” The dream has not been realized. Let’s celebrate our Baptism and our part in Christ’s kingship with our witness. Dr. King’s last words when he spoke of the three evils ring are true today: “. . .we will not be harassed, we will not make a butchery of our conscience, we will not be intimidated and we will be heard.” Will you witness and be heard? That’s how we are to celebrate this day and season!
Author: Deacon Timothy Tilghman, the Deacon in the Neighborhood, St. Teresa of Avila Church, Washington, DC.
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