Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 16th, 2022
First Reading
Isaiah 62:1-5
God delights in Israel and will rejoice as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 96:1-2,2-3,7-8,9-10
A song in praise of God's marvelous deeds
Second Reading
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
All spiritual gifts originate from the same Spirit.
Gospel Reading
John 2:1-11
Jesus performs his first sign at a wedding feast in Cana.
Background on the Gospel Reading
To situate today's reading within the context of John's Gospel, we note that John's report of this event follows Jesus' call of his first disciples. John tells us that Jesus and his disciples were invited to this wedding at Cana, as was Jesus' mother, Mary. There is no parallel report of this miracle at Cana in the Synoptic Gospels.
In the Church's liturgical history, the wedding feast of Cana is closely associated with the baptism of the Lord and the adoration of the infant Jesus by the Wise Men. In this context, the sign Jesus performs at the wedding feast is celebrated as an epiphany or a manifestation of Jesus' divinity. Yet awareness of Jesus' impending passion and death is ever present in John's Gospel. Even in this report of Jesus' first sign, the language used anticipates Jesus' passion.
When Jesus says to his mother that his hour has not yet come, he protests against her wishes in language that John will use again when reporting Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples. When introducing the story of Jesus washing his disciples' feet, John writes that Jesus knew that his hour had come.