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.
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
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; the new covenant, which belongs to us, has the savor of
life and is filled with grace.
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