Do whatever He tells you

The beautiful and fantastic power of married friendship is used quite often in the Bible to describe God’s love for His highest creation, the human person.  Isaiah tells a people who has been unfaithful to their God, that God will come and make things right again.  “No more shall people call you ‘forsaken’, or your land ‘desolate’.  But you shall be called ‘my delight’, and your land ‘espoused’.” [Isaiah 62:1-5]

St. Paul tells us that there are many varied and different gifts that must work together for the good of the Church [1 Corinthians 12:4-11].  We can find this same diversity in a marriage relationship.  The couple must learn deep respect for each other.  They must blend their different gifts so that each can be enriched and made a fuller person.

When I asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage, my future father-in-law had held up one finger and said “rispetto” (in English, “respect”).  He went on to tell me that it was the most important virtue he was looking for in a son-in-law, respect for his daughter and respect for her family.  I asked him if this was the secret to his (then) 25 years of happy marriage.  He held up two fingers this time. “Two things.”  He said them with a definite emphasis. “Respect. Pride.  Always treat your wife with respect and have pride in your family, through good times and bad.  Anybody can say they’re in ‘love’.  Respect and pride prove it.”  Since I can’t remember a single moment in the 47+ years Marilyn and I have been married of ever having any bad times with her or our family, it’s evidence enough for me that his advice (and Paul’s) was right on.

I have a feeling that Jesus and His mother Mary were irresistibly drawn to a wedding and its festive celebration.  The beauty and power of friendship love, its power to transform and make whole, were tangible and felt at this time.  I don’t think it’s surprising that Jesus used this kind of context, to begin manifesting His power of transforming love.  The short and direct statement from our Blessed Mother to the servants at the wedding says all we need to know.  “Do whatever He tells you.”   [John 2:1-11]

The hard part, of course, is following that advice.  It’s easy to believe it, to preach it and to commit ourselves to doing everything that our Lord says, but it’s another thing to actually follow through and fulfill His divine will.

Discerning the will of God can be hard in the sense that it requires a wholehearted attentiveness to His gentle and subtle voice.  God doesn’t impose His will on us; rather, He respectfully and quietly invites us to listen.  He waits until we give Him our full attention and then reveals His will one step at a time.  Yes, some things have been made clear already through public revelation such as the avoidance of sin and the embrace of faith, hope and love.  But when we’re ready to let those general commands enter practically into our daily lives, we must be ready to give God our full attention.

We should realize that God’s will, when properly discerned, is not always easy to embrace.  He requires everything of us.  He’s a “jealous God” [Exodus 20:5] in the sense that He wants our total surrender.  The good news is that if we’re willing to give Him everything in total obedience, we’ll discover that our lives are completely fulfilled.