Theme: Set your eyes on God's fresh package for you.
(1st: Is 62, 1-5; Ps: 95; 2nd: I Cor 12, 4-11; Gos: Jn
2, 1-11)
Dearest brothers and sisters, the readings of today invite us to glorify our God for His promise to restore us to His blessing and favours. We have a God who will never abandon us even when the world turns its back on us. The readings also invite us to thank this God who has blessed us with numerous gifts and opportunities in life. What a beautiful message for us at the beginning of the new year.
The first
reading from the third Isaiah showed us God’s assurance of restoration to the
people of Israel. In exile, Israel was a nation that was heading into
extinction; their captors had the plan to wipe them out of the face of the
earth. They did this with both actions and words. While physically punishing
the Israelites in exile, their captors also used the weapon of words to deepen
the effects of the physical torture. They told them that their God had abandoned
them, that they had been forsaken by the God they served. Those words inflicted
deep wounds in the hearts and lives of many Israelites
When the
people of Israel finally returned from exile, they found it difficult to settle
down as a nation; they were confused and depressed, not knowing where to start
again, especially because of the psychological trauma of seeing themselves as a
forsaken nation. It could be said that
they started seeing themselves through the lens of their enemies as a forsaken
people.
It was in
the midst of the depressed state the people of Israel found themselves that the
prophet Isaiah stepped up and announced to the house of Israel the message we
read in the first reading of today. He rose to stop their trauma, to end their
depression, to tell them that they have not been forgotten by God, that their
God will change or reverse their fate, that their God had a fresh package for
them. He told them to put the sad days of old behind them and focus on the new
things God had in stock for them. Today, the church extends this call of the
prophet Isaiah to us as we begin a new year. Like Isaiah, the church tells us
to put the setbacks of the last year behind us and focus on the new package God
has prepared for us this new year.
The prophet
Isaiah told the Israelites that God will initiate His new package in their
lives by changing the destiny-sapping name given to them by their enemy and
replacing it with a name that will depict His blessings. He said: “you
shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land
shall no more be termed Desolate, …but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
… for the Lord delights in you.” The church is
saying the same to you today. She is telling you that, for your sake, God will
not be silent this new year. He will turn your poor fate around this year and
crown you with success. The names that depicted failure which people threw at
you in different moments of last year will be changed. You will instead be
decorated with names that depict success in the course of this year.
It was this same God’s
project of changing the sad fate of His people that the gospel reading of today
presented to us. When wine – a substance that has a sweet taste – finished at
the marriage feast of Cana in Galilea, the couple and the guests were left with
just water – a substance that is tasteless. The sweet taste of the ceremony was
lost, what remained was just tastelessness. This vividly depicts the feeling
that enveloped the climate at that marriage feast. It was an aura that lacked a
sweet taste. Have you ever imagined how the guests at that marriage feast felt
when they got the sad news that the wine for the feast has finished? They must
have been angry with the couple who invited them. They must have called them
names. They must have seen them as disgusting, ill-prepared, a disgrace and a
disappointment. Have you also imagined the level of shame that enveloped those
young couple on the first day of their marriage when they heard that their wine
had been exhausted? It must have been a devastating feeling for them. They must
have wept in their hearts hearing the frustrations poured out by their guests.
It was in the
midst of that frustrating situation, the emptiness, the tastelessness and the
feeling of disappointment that enveloped that wedding feast that Jesus rose and
changed the fate of the couple of Cana; He performed the first miracle of His
ministry by changing the bad fate of man; He changed the couple’s story from a
sad one to a sweet and happy one. He restored their joy. He changed their tastelessness.
He restored the sweet taste of their life.
Dear friends, the
church wants you to know that even if the sweetness of your life has been
exhausted, even if people have termed you a disappointment, a shame, a
disgrace, you still have a God who is capable of turning your fate round. Your
God is close to you to restore the flavour and sweet taste of your life. He is
close to you with a fresh package for your life. Jesus came to change our empty
fortunes to better ones. The church wants you to begin this year with this
divine assurance. Always stay close to Mother Mary. She will support you with
her constant intercession.
The second
reading then invites us to understand that whatever we receive from God’s new
package for us this year should be channelled towards the common good. The
gifts of God come to us out of the love of God, and they are always for a
purpose, which is, to use them to participate in the mission of Christ in this
world: the development of the society, the edification of the church, the
growth of humanity, and the help of the needy.
Let us ask God to
help us to channel our talents and gifts towards the realization of His will on
earth.
Happy Sunday
Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima
#2ndSundayYrC #SecondSundayYearC #2ndSundayOrdinaryTimeYearC #ChimaIsaac #IsaacChima #FrIsaacChima #FreshDewMedia
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