Life was unbelievably hard in Jesus’ day. Virtually everyone was threatened with severe malnutrition, so it is not a stretch of the imagination to realize that celebrating with food and merriment was a rare respite from life’s hardships. Weddings, often lasting for days, provided just such an opportunity. For the hosts of this particular wedding at Cana, to run out of wine would have been more than an embarrassment; it would have been a travesty. Yet, in the persons of Mary and Jesus, God was present. God is always present to us, not just in our joy, but in our suffering as well, perhaps even more so. And if God is with us, then new possibilities are capable of emerging. These new possibilities come to birth not in spite of our suffering, but in and through our suffering. God is with you! What are the possibilities presenting themselves to you today? What victory lurks within your sense of defeat? What redemption waits to be born out of your suffering?
Divine God,
You are always present,
Offering redemption
Exactly as I need it.
