Daily Devotional for January 7

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January 7                                                           John 2:1-11

Did you ever wonder what happened to that couple who will
always be remembered because of the honored guest at their
wedding? Did they ever tire of recounting that day over and
over to their children and grandchildren? Did they remember
their feelings of panic when they discovered they had no wine,
their surprise at the sudden appearance of even better wine
than they had purchased, the whispers that went around the
wedding party about this man Jesus? Did this first of Jesus'
signs bring them to faith in him or discipleship? Did they ever
leave each other?

Weddings and Holy Unions evoke profound feelings of happi-
ness and deep feelings of pain in all of us - couples, singles,
celibates, divorced, widows and widowers. We are happy for
these two who pledge their love and faithfulness to a life that
calls for the transformation of the water of selfishness, indi-
viduality, and established ways into the wine of mutuality,
respectful love, and continued growth. And yet we know of
so many others who have for many reasons broken commit-
ments to partners.

Wedding and Holy Union ceremonies may also awaken in us
our own deepest longing for someone who will never go away.
In the light of this moment of crystallized fidelity and
commitment, we may remember the lost chances, the broken
commitments, the unhealed hurts of broken relationships in
our own lives. At such moments we can turn to God, the one
who embodies perfect fidelity to us all the way to death and
beyond.

               Jesus, you are really the only one who
          will never go away. By your abiding presence,
   you help us to transform our isolation into community
   and our aloneness into intimacy. And when others go
          away, you are still there at the end - the best
          wine for us to drink at life's wedding banquet,
              celebrating the union of our God-with-us.

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From The Road to Emmaus - An inclusive devotional Edited by Joseph W. Houle

Emmaus House of Prayer - Washington D.C