the wedding at Cana

  • Thread starter Thread starter exiled
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
E

exiled

Guest
As a Catholic I fully believe that Christ showed us Mary as an intercessor at the wedding at Cana. What I wonder, though, is how she knew that Christ could do anything about the wine? Had he performed miracles in the privacy of their home? Had God somehow inspired her to say what she did?
Did Mary, in fact, have a full understanding of exactly who her Son was, and what He was capable of doing, and what He would do with His life?
 
exiled said:
As a Catholic I fully believe that Christ showed us Mary as an intercessor at the wedding at Cana. What I wonder, though, is how she knew that Christ could do anything about the wine? Had he performed miracles in the privacy of their home? Had God somehow inspired her to say what she did?
Did Mary, in fact, have a full understanding of exactly who her Son was, and what He was capable of doing, and what He would do with His life?
Click to expand...
how could she not know? She was told by Gabriel that she would bear the Son of God… if she could believe that a virgin could give birth and pronounce herself the handmade of the Lord, then how is it hard for her to believe water could be turned to wine.
 
promethius95945 said:
how could she not know? She was told by Gabriel that she would bear the Son of God… if she could believe that a virgin could give birth and pronounce herself the handmade of the Lord, then how is it hard for her to believe water could be turned to wine.
Click to expand...
How then could she not understand what he was saying when she and Joseph found him in the temple at Jerusalem?
And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said to them: How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my father’s business? And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them.
(Luke 2:48-50)
Click to expand...
 
I think the “Did you not know that I must be about my father’s business” is what threw them. Even the Apostles, who were with the grown Jesus didn’t understand how is actions were always connected with the ushering in of the Kingdom.

How much more for parents of a 12 year old (the fact that they knew He was the Son of God notwithstanding)?
 
SyCarl said:
How then could she not understand what he was saying when she and Joseph found him in the temple at Jerusalem?
Click to expand...
Because even if she knew who he was, she did not necessarily know what he had to do.
 
Well, with my limited abilities I’m trying to figure out the magnitude for my own reasons.
The way I see it Mary either
#1-knew He was God, and therefore capable of performing the miracle requested. But if she knew He was God Himself, what emboldened her to think she could make her request, and what made her so sure of His response? In my mind, it was because she knew that He was her Son, too, and therefore He would do whatever He could to honor her., just as He would do His Father’s Will.
#2-she did not know He was God Incarnate, and all that it meant to humanity. But then, that brings me back to what she thought He might be able to do about it in the first place.
Now I’m sure I’m missing lots of theological underpinnings, so perhaps some here can enlighten me. I find this to be greatly in favor of the Catholic view on Mary.
What do protestants think this entire event was meant to tell us? Surely it is not merely a delightful story.
 
VociMike said:
Because even if she knew who he was, she did not necessarily know what he had to do.
Click to expand...
Bingo! I hear the sound of nail being hit on the head here. Just to add - she knew who he was and what he COULD do, not necessarily what he WOULD or had to do.
 
Not only did Mary know what her son could do, she was the very first human the Holy Trinity was revealed too.

And her changing her Son’s mind to work this miracle does or should teach us all of her importance in intercession. This incident and miracle was performed and recorded for a reason.
 
Mary knew Jesus was God b/c whatever the father is, so is the son. Like the son of a bird is a bird, the son of a cat is a cat, the son of a human is a human and the Son of God is God.
At the wedding I think Jesus is trying to make it peerfectly clear that if he remedies the situation their lives will never be the same again. For the most part Jesus will leave the home of Mary and begin his ministry which they both know will ultimately end in his death. In a way, it appears that he’s seeking permission from her to begin.
In the liturgy wine is a symbol of divinity. Water is a symbol of humanity. At the wedding feast Jesus shows us how he can take our humanity and make us holy. But only if we are willing to “do whatever He tells you”.
 
LilyM said:
Just to add - she knew who he was and what he COULD do, not necessarily what he WOULD or had to do.
Click to expand...
Very, very true. But she knew He would remedy the wine situation as she knew her Son very well. Plus, she all BUT ordered him to do something about it by telling the servants “to do as He says”.

In John 2:5, Mother Mary let it be known to her Son in no uncertain terms that she expected something done. She left saying, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top