The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to Jesus and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, save me. Blood of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me. O good Jesus, hear me. Within Thy wounds, hide me. Suffer me not, to be separated from Thee. From the malicious enemy, defend me. At the hour of my death, call me, And bid me to come to Thee, That with Thy saints I may praise Thee for all ever and ever. Amen

Mary says to Jesus at the Wedding at Cana, “They have no wine.” Humanity had no wine, because they had no vine. Jesus is the new vine that gives us the “new wine” This new wine, like the wine at the wedding at Cana is superior to the old and this is why the server says, “you have kept the good wine until now”. The good wine was kept back until “when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law.”[1] It makes sense that “the vine” would be born of a woman, and “the wine” would be requested by the same woman.
 
This new wine cannot be put in old wineskins, for Jesus says, “no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is our into fresh wineskins.”[2] If the “new wine”, which is the charity of Jesus, is to be poured into us there must be a change in the vessel. This is why the feast of the baptism of the Lord precedes the Wedding at Cana. We need the repentance and cleansing of baptism, to prepare the way for the charity of new wine which will be poured into us. At baptism we are “filled to the brim” with water, a water that will be changed into the wine of Christ’s love. Ezekiel prophesies this when he says, “I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statues, careful to observe my decrees.”[3] This spirit cannot be placed within us without charity, for in the greatest act of charity, the Crucifixion, Jesus says, “Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit.”[4] It is because Christ commends His spirit, that the spirit is placed within us, for this is how the branches remain one with the vine. Each night at Compline (Night Prayer) the Church remembers with fond appreciation this great love in the responsory, “Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit. Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit. You have redeemed us, Lord God of truth. I commend my spirit. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.”