{"id":3135,"date":"2026-01-16T18:06:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T18:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stpaulmacomb.com\/church\/?p=3135"},"modified":"2026-01-26T15:31:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T15:31:14","slug":"weekly-reflection-january-18-2026-1-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stpaulmacomb.com\/church\/weekly-reflection-january-18-2026-1-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Reflection \u2013 January 18, 2026 (1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time<\/strong>
Flipped-out Pharisees<\/em><\/p>\n

The Gospel reading for this Sunday is not only the first miracle in John\u2019s Gospel, it is also John\u2019s first mention of Jesus\u2019 mother. I used to find it odd that Jesus addressed her as \u201cWoman.\u201d I can\u2019t imagine my Dad letting me get away with that. But in that time the word was more respectful; it could even be affectionate. (The last time Jesus speaks to his mother\u2014John 19:26\u2014he also calls her \u201cWoman.\u201d He certainly wasn\u2019t being disrespectful on the cross.) Jesus does help as his mother requested, but he does so in a way that doesn\u2019t draw attention to himself and also is a lesson about God\u2019s love.<\/p>\n

You have probably heard how the Jewish people in Jesus\u2019 time performed purification rituals before eating anything. The cleansings were a sign that they wanted to be like God, completely free from sin. Eventually, it came to mean that you could not approach God until you cleansed yourself. Jesus used the miracle to show us a different way of understanding holiness. Jesus could have made the wine in bottles or wineskins to show that it was new. But he used the \u201csix stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings\u201d (John 2:6). That meant that once they were full of wine, no one could wash themselves from the jars. I wonder how many Pharisees flipped out when they saw that.<\/p>\n

The point is that no one can cleanse themselves. We don\u2019t purify ourselves in order to come to God\u2014we come to God to be purified. God is the only one who can make us holy. God offers this to sinners especially, because sinners who know they need forgiveness are the only ones to receive it. Not because God excludes the rest. Those who don\u2019t think they are sinners or don\u2019t think they can be forgiven won\u2019t ask for it. God never forces mercy on anyone. It is offered to those who ask for it. The amount of wine (six big jars of about twenty-five gallons each) symbolizes the extent of God\u2019s mercy. As there was now more than enough wine for the wedding, God has more than enough mercy for those who need it. Wine is also a symbol of joy in the Old Testament. There is no greater joy than knowing that you have been forgiven by the Lord.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tom Schmidt<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Reflection provided by diocesan.com. Reprinted with permission.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Second Sunday in Ordinary TimeFlipped-out Pharisees The Gospel reading for this Sunday is not only the first miracle in John\u2019s Gospel, it is also John\u2019s first mention of Jesus\u2019 mother. I used to find it odd that Jesus addressed her as \u201cWoman.\u201d I can\u2019t imagine my Dad letting me get away with that. But in that time the word was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-reflections"],"yoast_head":"\nWeekly Reflection \u2013 January 18, 2026 (1) - St. Paul Church Macomb, IL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/stpaulmacomb.com\/church\/weekly-reflection-january-18-2026-1-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Weekly Reflection \u2013 January 18, 2026 (1) - St. Paul Church Macomb, IL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Second Sunday in Ordinary TimeFlipped-out Pharisees The Gospel reading for this Sunday is not only the first miracle in John\u2019s Gospel, it is also John\u2019s first mention of Jesus\u2019 mother. 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