Jesus performed His first miracle at the Wedding Feast at Cana. He turned water into wine! He turned lots of water into lots of wine! He wants to do the same for your marriage. He wants you to know abundant and fruitful joy in your marriage. He wants to lavish grace upon you. So how do you receive that grace in your marriage? To help answer that question, let’s take a close look at the biblical account of the wedding feast at Cana. Here we can learn three important lessons:
- Marriage is a sacrament,
- God wants to pour abundant grace upon your marriage, and
- Obedience is the key to receiving grace.
The Wedding at Cana
On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast.” So they took it. When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him. (John 2:1-11 RSVCE)
Lesson One: Marriage is a Sacrament
The first lesson from Cana is that marriage is a sacrament. And what is a sacrament? According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC): “sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us” (CCC 1131).
The Catechism explains:
On the threshold of his public life Jesus performs his first sign—at his mother’s request—during a wedding feast. The Church attaches great importance to Jesus’ presence at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ’s presence. (CCC 1613)
The Catechism further explains…
The entire Christian life bears the mark of the spousal love of Christ and the Church… Christian marriage in its turn becomes an efficacious sign, the sacrament of the covenant of Christ and the Church. Since it signifies and communicates grace, marriage between baptized persons is a true sacrament of the New Covenant. (CCC 1617)
God gives us grace in marriage for two purposes:
“By reason of their state in life and of their order, [Christian spouses] have their own special gifts in the People of God.” This grace proper to the sacrament of Matrimony is intended to perfect the couple’s love and to strengthen their indissoluble unity. By this grace they “help one another to attain holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children.” (CCC 1641)
Wow! God grants grace to perfect your love for your spouse and to strengthen your unity!
Lesson Two: God wants to pour abundant grace upon your marriage!
The second lesson we learn from the Wedding Feast of Cana is that God wants to pour abundant grace upon your marriage!
Wine symbolizes joy! Jesus made an overabundance of wine. Six stone jars each holding 20 to 30 gallons. That is 120 to 180 gallons of wine! That’s a lot of wine. God desires to pour out His grace even more abundantly upon you.
The Catechism states that…
Christ is the source of this grace…Christ dwells with them, gives them the strength to take up their crosses and so follow him, to rise again after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to bear one another’s burdens, to “be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ,” (Eph 5:21) and to love one another with supernatural, tender, and fruitful love. In the joys of their love and family life he gives them here on earth a foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb. (CCC 1642)
The Catechism further explains that…
Jesus has not placed on spouses a burden impossible to bear…By coming to restore the original order of creation disturbed by sin, he himself gives the strength and grace to live marriage in the new dimension of the Reign of God. It is by following Christ, renouncing themselves, and taking up their crosses that spouses will be able to “receive” the original meaning of marriage and live it with the help of Christ. This grace of Christian marriage is a fruit of Christ’s cross, the source of all Christian life. (CCC 1615)
But how do we receive this grace?
Lesson Three: Obedience
To answer that question, let’s take another look at the Scriptural account of the Wedding Feast at Cana.
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. (Jn 2:5-7)
It is through obedience to the commands of God that abundant joy and grace will be poured out into your marriage!
Tapping into the Grace
These three lessons are key to receiving the sacramental graces of marriage. There are several ways we can further increase our receptivity to God’s abundant grace. Over the next several weeks, we will look at six specific ways to tap into that grace. We call these the “Six Stone Jars.” Stay tuned to learn more about these jars.
Next in the Series – Tapping Into Grace: Six Stone Jars
Calling Couples to Christ 