Using the good stuff

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK

Jesus, help me enjoy good things instead of putting them aside for later! Amen.


USING THE GOOD STUFF

Jesus and Mary went to a wedding where the guests drank all the wine. Knowing Jesus could help, Mary told Him, "They have no more wine." Jesus saw the jugs of water people used to wash up. "Have the waiter taste it," He said. The waiter did - and said, "They've saved the best wine until now." The water had turned into wine!

Carefully, you peel every slice of pepperoni off your pizza and pile the it on the edge of your plate. You can't wait to finish the pizza and eat all the pepperoni at once - until suddenly, a friend says, "Oh, you don't like pepperoni?" and eats the whole stack!

How could she do that? The pepperoni was the best part, and you were saving the best for last!

This week's Gospel (John 2:1-11) is about that very idea. At a wedding, the bride and groom run out of anything for people to drink. Jesus, who's never done a miracle in public before, takes His mother Mary's suggestion and helps out, changing water into wine.

But Jesus doesn't just change the water into any old wine; He makes it into really good wine! Now, the stuff that's served at the end of the wedding reception is the best wine of all - like you saved your pepperoni because, to you, it was the best part of the pizza.

There are a lot of good messages in the Gospel story, but one is that good things are meant to be used. After Jesus made the wine, it's doubtful that people said, "Oh, we shouldn't drink this." They rejoiced at having something good and drank it.

It's doubtful that your friend meant to steal your pepperoni, either. She recognized that it was good, thought you didn't want it, and made sure it wouldn't be wasted. Even though you wanted it yourself, how upset can you really be? Jesus hoped people would enjoy everything in the world God created - from wine to pepperoni!

01/14/10