On the third day there was a
wedding. What wedding can this be but the joyful marriage of man's salvation, a
marriage celebrated by confessing the Trinity or by faith in the resurrection.
That is why the marriage took place "on the third day," a reference to
the sacred mysteries which this number symbolizes.
Hence, too, we read elsewhere in the
Gospel that the return of the younger son, that is, the conversion of the
pagans, is marked by song and music and wedding garments.
Like a bridegroom coming from his
marriage chamber, our
God descended to earth in his Incarnation, in order to be united to his Church
which was to be formed of the pagan nations. To her he gave a pledge and a
dowry: a pledge when God was united to man; a dowry when he was sacrificed for
man's salvation. The pledge is our present redemption; the dowry, eternal life.
To those who see only with the
outward eye, all these events at Cana are strange and wonderful; to those who
understand, they are also signs. For, if we look closely, the very water tells
us of our rebirth in baptism. One thing is turned into another from within, and
in a hidden way a lesser creature is changed into a greater. All this points to
the hidden reality of our second birth. There water was suddenly changed; later
it will cause a change in man.
By Christ's action in Galilee, then,
wine is made, that is, the law withdraws and grace takes its place; the shadows
fade and truth becomes present; fleshly realities are coupled with spiritual,
and the old covenant with its outward discipline is transformed into the new.
For, as the Apostle says: The old order has passed
away; now all is new! The water in the jars is not less than
it was before, but now begins to be what it had not been; so too the law is not
destroyed by Christ's coming, but is made better than it was.
When the wine fails, new wine is
served: the wine of the old covenant was good, but the wine of the new is
better. The old covenant, which Jews follow, is exhausted by its letter; the
new covenant, which belongs to us, has the savor of life and is filled with
grace.
Thy good wine, that
is, good precepts, refers to the law; thus we read: You shall love
your neighbor but hate your enemy. But the Gospel is a better
and a stronger wine: My command to you is: love your enemies,
pray for your persecutors.
By Fautsus of Riez (5th c.),
The Lord was invited and came to a
wedding. Is it any wonder that he who came to that house for a wedding came to
this world for a wedding? ... Therefore he has a bride here whom he has
redeemed by his blood and to whom he has given the Holy Spirit as a pledge. He
wrested her from enslavement to evil, he died for her sins. He arose again for
her justification. Who will offer such great things to his bride? Men may offer
some trinket or other from the earth, such as gold, silver, precious stones,
horses, slaves, farms or estates. Will any offer his blood? For if he gives his
blood to his bride, he will not be alive to take her as his wife. But the Lord,
dying free of anxiety, gave his blood for her in order that when he arose, he
might have her whom he had already joined to himself in the womb of the Virgin.
For the Word was the bridegroom, and human flesh was the bride.
from St. Augustine,
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