CANA

The Mother of Jesus was there" … the starting point for one of Fr Jean Coste’s presentation of the Marist charism.

Mary was there. Not just as any other guest, not just as an interested spectator. She was entirely present at Cana … aware, attentive, responsive … a kind of presence that permitted her to spot the potential catastrophe … "they have no wine" … a marriage feast in the Mediterranean basin, and the wine was running out … Mary must have seen in her mind’s eye, and felt very acutely in her heart, the terrible embarrassment facing the couple and those responsible for the feast, the possibly disastrous consequences for the crowd and for the whole event … we all know how important weddings can be for bringing families together, for forming a sense of community and of celebration … all of this in jeopardy, and Mary spotted it.

She didn’t panic … nor raise an alarm. She just turned to her Son and said "they have no wine". My guess is that she said it to him in quiet tones, not to draw more general attention to the situation. She didn’t tell him what to do. She just let him know. Even his rather off-putting response did not distract her from the main issue – "they have no wine" … if anyone can do something here, it is Jesus. And so she lets him know, and then instructs those serving the wine to follow his instructions ... .whatever they were.

Mary’s sensitivity to all that was happening around her made her aware of the situation. Her quiet confidence would not permit her to be distracted. And her practical wisdom led her to find the solution, a solution which would respect everyone’s feelings and proper role: "do whatever he tells you".

Awareness, sensitivity, confidence and discreet responsiveness! Three qualities which make of Mary the ideal facilitator in the circumstances of Cana. The same qualities will enable us Marists to carry on Mary’s work in our own day, the circumstances of our world.

Today, there is little danger of us running short of wine – the lakes of wine kept in storage in Europe will make sure of an abundance for some time to come. But there are many parts of our world where there is an acute shortage of even more fundamental things for life: "they have no clear water" might well be Mary’s warning … "they have no unpolluted air … no fertile land to cultivate …

no access to basic needs like security, education, proper health care … there is no peace …" I cannot imagine Mary being any less sensitive to the dire conditions, the precariousness and unnecessary deprivation of so many human lives today on earth, … any less sensitive to these conditions than she was at Cana. She would be calling our attention, and the attention of whomever was in a position to do anything about them, to human degrading of the earth and the environment, to unequal distribution of resources, to the discrepancies in different parts of the globe between people rich and poor … "they have no wine … nor food, nor shelter, nor clean water nor air …."

And in the face of off-putting lack of response, she would continue to alert us to the imminent danger of things falling apart … she would not panic, nor get into a state of rage of what was not right on earth … but she would confidently persist … knowing that things can be different … that the world we live in, for all its flaws and dangers, is a fine and beautiful place … that the peoples who inhabit this world are capable of a much safer, more just and abundant life … and that in the heart of all of us there is the same dream and potential … "do whatever he tells you …"

Look at how the prophet in the first reading persists with his call, addressed to the people of Jerusalem, that they are called to something better than a precarious, devastated, self-centred existence in the half rebuilt city, without temple or altar. He will not stop until he shakes them out of their lethargy and their fears and doubts … Mary’s persistence, though much more delicate and low-key, is none the less as real and effective …

We Marists see ourselves called to be a Mary presence in our world. We see ourselves as sharing her way of thinking, feeling, judging and acting. We need to be her eyes and ears and heart, present, attentive, aware and responsive to the needs of our time. And there is no doubt that among those needs calling for careful attention and action is the precarious state of our planet, and the harmful attitudes of exploitation and greed that are contributing to its degradation, and to the difficult task of preserving peace and harmony among nations.

Here we are, with Mary, in quiet Norfolk. Surrounded by lovely unspoiled and fertile English countryside and its traditional ways of life. This Nazareth of England can lull us into a false sense of peace and well-being. At this time the media attention is moving away from what was described as the worst environmental disaster ever to strike the United States. But the oil gushing out of the ruptured well is still polluting the Gulf of Mexico, is still destroying the wild-life of the seas and of the southern American coastline, and the livelihoods of millions of people for generations to come. And it seems that this terrible accident might well have been prevented if the desire to maximise profits and production had not been the determining factor on how the drilling and pumping was done.

At the same time, in many other parts of our world, less visible destruction is being wrought on nature and the lives and livelihoods of animals and populations even as we are here. I recall noticing the dead fish being washed onto the beaches of Senegal, and thinking they were what the great fishing factory ships were throwing away of their catches at sea … until I found that the local phosphate factory was, every day, dumping lorry-loads of acidic run-off into the ocean just a couple miles to the north. I remember hearing the fishermen of Cameroon telling me how their catches were being decimated by the vibration of oil being pumped out to the new off-shore terminal near Kribi – the fish were being driven away, and whole societies were being affected, while the ruling elite pocketed huge sums of money from the oil companies.

What our gospel today is reminding us of is that Mary is there, Mary is present and aware and responding to these crying needs of our world and our peoples … and is asking us to be her eyes and ears and mouth-pieces … like the prophet, to say again and again that we will not be silent until the glorious beauties of our world, the balance and harmony of creation as God has made it, are recognised and protected …