“…but you have saved the best till now.” What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.’ John 2:10b-11

There is much in this story to love. It is packed with details that cause my heart to wonder, to ask questions, to smile, to rejoice and today, as I listened to it on Lectio 365, I was challenged in a beautiful way.

I won’t follow all of the many strands this story contains. I will just say that every time I encounter this story, I am struck again by the generosity of this miracle. Jesus not only saves this family embarrasment, he increases their honour.

But it is the kind of wasteful extravagance of this miracle that most captures me every time. How many of us would have begun our life ministry with such a seemingly spiritually insgnificant miracle? Later on, Jesus would raise the dead, heal the sick, forgive sins, free people from demonic bondage, multiply food for the hungry! So why did Jesus choose to begin with wine and a party?

Sorry if you were hoping for an answer, that isn’t my focus today. Because today, it is Mary who stands out to me. Her utter confidence in Jesus. We don’t know if previous to this Jesus has done some little miracles that have gone unrecorded because only his parents witnessed them. But what we do know is that Mary has no doubt about who to go to in the hour of need. And his gentle protest does nothing to sway her. She remains confident that he will do a work of “impossible generosity”, so much so that she is unafraid to tell the servants to also trust him.

I want to be like Mary. Not for the first time. Pretty much every Advent I want to be like Mary. But I want to be like the Mary of this story, confident in the impossible generosity of Jesus in my life and for the sake of others. I often look at the needs in my life and begin to feel anxious and overwhelmed. Then I look at the needs of others all around me and I feel like my needs are so insignficant compared to the urgency around me. And so somewhere between the overwhelm and the sense of “my needs aren’t as important” I become silent and still.

But I want to be like Mary. I want to simply acknowledge the needs without comparison or over-analysation, and then get up and move towards Jesus, giving voice to my concerns and in the process, inviting others to join me in placing full confidence in his willingness and ability to do the work of impossible generosity.

If you can relate, join me in praying this prayer from Lectio 365 today:

“Jesus, I ask you to increase my expectation of your abundant, impossible genrosity. I pray that I would look less at the frailty of my own faith and the challenge of my circumstances and focus more on your miraculous, multiplying presence.”

Amen.