S3, E6 - The Wedding Feast at Cana Decade Meditation

The mission of the Ponder and Magnify Podcast is to seek an encounter with Jesus through praying the rosary, relying on the grace of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of Mary. In this episode, listeners are invited to pray with their imaginations through a decade meditation on the account of the Wedding Feast at Cana from John 2: 1-11. Praise be to God!

Transcript

Jessica: 0:05

Hello and welcome to the Ponder and Magnify podcast, where our mission is to seek an encounter with Jesus through praying the Rosary, relying on the grace of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of Mary.

Jessica: 0:16

I am so happy that you are here.

Jessica: 0:20

In this episode we'll meditate on Jesus' first miracle at the wedding feast at Cana.

Jessica: 0:26

as we pray a decade of the rosary. We'll pray with this mystery, imagining that we are one of the servers at the wedding feast, taking direction from Mary and Jesus. Before we start, let's pause and reflect on what we're bringing to prayer. What are your joys in this moment? What sorrows are you feeling right now? Do you have any fears in this moment? What are you desiring? Whom do you wish to pray for? In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Jesus, we ask you to speak directly into our circumstances. Mary, thank you for praying with us and for us. Now, holy Spirit, anoint the gift of our imagination so that we might come to encounter Jesus more deeply through it. The second luminous mystery is the wedding feast at Cana, a reading from the Gospel of John. On the third day, there was a wedding in Cana, in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him they have no wine. And Jesus said to her Woman how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servers Do whatever he tells you. Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding 20 to 30 gallons. Jesus told them fill the jars with water. So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them draw some out now and take it to the head waiter. So they took it and when the head waiter tasted the water, that had become wine, without knowing where it came from, although the servers who had drawn the water knew. The head waiter called the bridegroom and said to him Everyone serves the good wine first and then, when people have drunk freely, an inferior one, but you have kept the good wine until now. Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana, in Galilee, and so revealed his glory and his disciples began to believe in him. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, amen.

Jessica: 3:15

I am surprised to see a wedding guest back in the servers' area. The way she approaches. She's clearly there with a purpose. She comes up to me and says to me with such kindness and warmth I'm so sorry to interrupt your work, but I just wondered if there was a problem going on. The head waiter just served me. He seemed very distressed. I'm surprised that a wedding guest would notice such a thing, let alone take the time to come away from the feast to come check on things.

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Hail Mary full of grace.

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The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen. I sigh ready to tell her everything is fine, but her eyes are so inviting and she seems to feel a genuine concern. I tell her the head waiter is panicked. We are very close to running out of wine and he's worried about telling the bridegroom. We anticipated that what we had would have been enough, but it has fallen short.

Jessica: 4:29

Hail Mary full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen. The woman's expression and tone changed in a way I did not expect. She was elated, noticeably filled with excitement and joy. She said to me with such eager energy behind her voice ah yes, this is perfect. Tell the other servers and the head waiter not to worry, I have a solution. There will be more wine. I'll be back. Before I could ask her any questions, she hurried off running. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen. Minutes later, the woman returned with a man who was younger than her. I figured they had to be related, so striking was their resemblance. She took the man's hand and eagerly pulled him toward me. He smiled at me. Before I could greet the man, the woman said to him they have no wine gesturing toward me. she was out of breath from having rushed so quickly after learning the problem. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen. The man looked at the woman for a few seconds before responding. He smiled at her with such tenderness, as if he were so pleased she had brought him here. She nodded back to him as if encouraging him. He finally said to her Woman how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come. I did not understand his response, but they clearly understood each other, for they both looked at each other, smiling as if they were sharing a hidden knowledge. The man nodded, and then she nodded back. There was a pregnant pause as the moment seemed to hang still. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. The woman turned to me then with a warm smile, saying Do whatever he tells you. The man, seeming to share the woman's joy and warmth, put his hand on my shoulder, nodded at me and said fill the jars with water. Though I did not understand what was going on, I felt as though they were inviting me into their hidden plan. It felt so good to be seen as someone worth inviting in, someone who could help in some small way. It was an affirmation that took me by surprise, unlocking an unexpected joy and excited anticipation within me. Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Fueled by this newfound feeling of being seen and called upon, I ran to fill the jars with water as fast as I could, recruiting help from the other servers too. Though I didn't understand what was going to come of it, I did my best to fill the jars to the brim, so eager to see what would come next in this plan. The woman had been so confident that there would be more wine. Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Once the jars were filled, the man instructed me Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter. I felt an odd mixture of confusion and excitement as I did what the man asked of me. I wondered what was going to happen. The head waiter took a sip of what I brought him and asked in amazement where did you get this wine? I was in awe. All I could do was run back to the server's area as fast as I could, hoping the man and woman would still be there. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. When I entered into the server's area, the woman was gone, but the man was there. I was thrilled to see him. He was smiling as if he knew what was coming next it's wine. I shouted out of breath from running and excitement. He said to me yes, it was possible because you filled the jars even though you didn't understand. Hail Mary full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. I had so many questions for the man, but first I had it on my heart to share with him. I could not refuse your request because of the confidence of the woman who was with you. She assured me that there would be more wine and, despite it seeming impossible, her complete confidence captivated me. I had to see what would come of it. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen, O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy. Amen. Hail Holy Queen, mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry poor, banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious, advocate thine eyes of mercy toward us and, after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, o loving, o sweet Virgin Mary, pray for us, o Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ, amen. It occurred to me while praying here that as the miracle comes about, Mary recedes into the background of what's happening so that Jesus gets all the glory, and it just made me think what a sacrifice this moment was for her, because at this moment her hidden 30 years with Jesus would be over. She knew that at this moment his power would be public. What a sacrifice that she made. Her joy in calling Jesus to this moment is such an act of love for humanity that she would be willing to give up her hidden, secret time with him to let him be shared and let his salvific works come to be. What a gift we have in Mary that she's willing to put us first, before her own desires. She could have kept Jesus all to herself, but she knew that was not the point. Praise be to God. Thank you, Lord, for the gift, the gift of your mother and the gift of sharing her with us so that she can be our mother too. I'm so grateful for time spent praying with you all who are listening. Please count on my continued prayers, and we ask you humbly to be praying for us. Praise be to God.