CANA: THE DEBUT OF FAITH

Jesus was a great educator of the faith, and he loved to form his interlocutors through dialogue. This then led to an encounter free from ideological or religious preclusions. In his encounters, in fact, he breathed a sincere welcome to saints and sinners, to friends or enemies. This openness led men and women to faith. Looking at him, every man also learns what it means to believe, the culmination of which we find in the words of Paul: “The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God” (Gal 2:20). The genitive used here in Greek has a threefold meaning: it speaks of Jesus as the object of faith; of Jesus as the origin of faith; of Jesus as a believing subject. But be careful: it is not enough for the disciple to recognize Jesus; it is not even enough for him to accept the gift of faith. He must make the Master’s faith his own. Only in this way will his faith become Christian. In the fourth Gospel we have seven signs that describe the stages to reach this confession. We said signs and not miracles. In fact, John uses a particular term: sēmêia. They are signs of the glory of God in Jesus and they are also signs that inaugurate the beginning of the messianic era of salvation. The episode of Cana is the first of these signs, the last will be that of Lazarus. But why does the Church place this Gospel at the end of the Christmas celebrations and before ordinary time? Just as water was transformed into wine at Cana, so Christ, in his Incarnation, transformed human nature. We were like petrified amphorae, with stagnant water that no longer nourished life, no longer quenched thirst and no longer ensured fertility. If it is true that there are six amphorae, a symbol of imperfection, it is equally true that they are the prerequisite for seven, the number capable of fulfilling our existence. At Cana, the seven that follows six is Jesus. Only in him is the sacred number realized. On the cross, he will in fact open the seventh amphora, when pierced by the spear, blood and water will flow from his heart, that is, his supreme love (blood) and the Holy Spirit (water).
We can compare the episode of Cana to the Dionysian festivals of ancient Greece or the Roman bacchanalia. During the latter, on the night between January 5 and 6, three amphorae were placed in the sanctuary of Dionysus. The next day they were found filled with wine. Likewise in Egypt, on January 6th the feast of the god Aion was celebrated by the virgin Kore. Water was drawn from the Nile and this was destined to be changed into wine. Now we do not know how much these celebrations influenced the fourth Gospel. The fact remains, however, that John wants to make us understand who Jesus really is and what we have become thanks to faith in him. In every man there is a pressing need to change, to transform. With the Incarnation this transformation occurred, the water became wine, that is, human nature was permeated by divine life, and man was divinized.
Are we aware of this?

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey