Homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

This homily was preached by Fr Dominic Robinson SJ

Scripture readings: Isaiah 62:1-5; I Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-11

Wedding receptions are usually events I relish and I’m always delighted to receive an invitation to them. At the drinks before dinner you often find yourself having the opportunity to meet interesting people and often have surprising conversations with people who have difficult relationships with faith and organised religion. It really is a privileged community. It’s a very human situation and so a good opportunity to have the kind of conversation which perhaps in a small way might show something of the Church’s human face.

Today’s Gospel takes place in the very human setting of a wedding feast. Everyone is there to do what most human beings love to do. Celebrate, enjoy company, have a good time. And at the centre of this is a human figure, Jesus, along with his mother Mary. Yes, this is part of Jesus’ beginning to reveal himself as the Messiah, as the Son of God. This is his first great miracle, showing his power. But it occurs in the most human of settings in the most human of interactions. A wedding feast where the need is simply to provide adequate hospitality. And here we see the essence of who this God made human is in sheer generosity, care, kindness, compassion. All that really does go a long way.

For me deep in the mystery of the faith we proclaim here each Sunday and each day in the Mass is this person of Christ entering into our world again. A world which is so much in need of all that he is about. Kindness, care, compassion, sheer unselfish sacrificial concern for others goes a long way. And here in the Mass we are nourished, we are strengthened, we are led forth as pilgrims on a journey yearning to be drawn into the mystery which gives us meaning to our lives here on earth and a heavenly destiny, a purpose beyond this world too. We need to keep our eyes always on the eternal banquet.

Thank God for our personal devotion to the Mass. So many people I’ve met over the last months of the pandemic have been so touched by that desire for the Eucharist, to receive the Body of Christ, at a time when so many are so much in need of connecting with something outside of ourselves which gives meaning to our lives. And we’re all aware how difficult that is at the moment still with fears of the pandemic not over. But I know huge numbers are participating at home through the livestream.

But God forbid coming to Mass should ever become our own private devotional life. No, the Eucharist is – if nothing else – not a private matter – because it embraces the whole world. That’s why being present in person is, when we can fully, so vital. We are the Body of Christ and called to embody him and all he is about. He will give himself in the fullest act of generosity as is humanly possible not for us, not for the privileged few, but for all people. The Eucharist reminds us always of our duty to bring others to share in it, to bring others to Christ, to share in the mystery of Faith which we proclaim.

And this Sunday is set aside for focussing our minds and hearts on the Christian call made to all of us to work for peace. Peace Sunday. And that involves the specific work of social justice and peace on various issues here at home and abroad. We are very involved in a variety of this work in our parish and our diocese – the care of creation, social action and advocacy to eradicate poverty, the plight of migrants and refugees, and international peace issues. But it also means we are all called to bring the peace of Christ we proclaim to others in our everyday lives. To embody him. As individuals and as a Christian community.

And we are called to do this at a time when the Church universally and currently at local parish level is engaging in a consultation on who we are and how we engage with the world, this Synod pathway we are currently on. We’re coming to the end of the beginning of that process as we begin to prepare our report based on all the listening we’ve done for the Diocese. But, as I say, this is not the end of the process. The listening we’ve been engaged in now needs to take root more in how we see our mission as the Church and I know the Synod Team will be making sure we all have access to that report. This is really important not so we capture opinions, views, issues, but so we mark where the Spirit seems to be leading us to embody Christ in what we do, in how as the Body of Christ we bear him to the world. How we bring his peace to our world around us.

Back to the Gospel. Each one of us is asked to look at how we proclaim his mystery to others, how we spread his peace through our actions and through our words, how we respond to the command at the end of the Mass which is Christ’s command ‘Go in peace to glorify the Lord through your lives’. That is what the Mass is also about. This is what our faith is all about. To go forth to bring others to know him, to serve him, to love him, to embrace his peace, for the good of all.