Joy Runneth Over.

Today the Roman Rite meditates on the Wedding Feast at Cana, Christ's first miracle in which he turned the water into wine. The reflection in Magnificat for today was so beautiful, I'll just let Caryll Houselander do the talking:

"The marriage at Cana is a showing of the joy that Christ brought into the world. Here, at his Mother's request, our Lord worked his first public miracle. It is a delight to think that this first miracle was in no way connected with unhappiness. It was not healing sickness, forgiving sins, or raising the dead; it was simply giving joy, more joy, to people who were already rejoicing..."

This is an almost giddy thought, but so vital in the wake of watching a tragedy like the earthquake in Haiti unfold over the week. Our way would be to swoop in and fix the problem: raise the buildings, raise the dead, feed the starving, overthrow the powers of injustice. But our ways are not God's ways... God becomes man and first reveals his glory at a party, rejoicing with those who rejoice. How human, how super-human.

Houselander continues:

"...The joy of God is a wine that changes the drab, colorless substance of human nature into the rich, crimson vitality of supernatural life. It changes discouragement to hope, doubt to faith, it lights up the mind and in its light men see that the problems of the world today, which seemed insurmountable, are straws in the power of God, and in his name even a creature as little and weak as man can overcome them."

May the crimson joy of the Almighty be with you today.