Each and every one of us have got abilities and talents which are unique to us. We do not have any duplicates as we are made different and special in the image of God. As St. Paul in the second reading tells us: “There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people; it is the same God who is working in all of them.” This means that, no matter how much talent or how little talent we may have, all these talents are meant for us to glorify God, not to be kept to ourselves. But the question is: Do we see a variety of gifts manifested in different ways in our parish? Do we see God’s spirit working in our parish through the many people who volunteer for ministry? Are you using your gift for the service of the community and the church?
God has given each and every one of us talents and abilities to help the church and the Christian community grow and mature. The issue is, we sometimes fail God and the community, especially when we do not acknowledge our gifts and the gifts of others in the community. A community can only flourish if its members are able to recognise their own gifts and affirm the gifts of others. A community is in danger of disintegrating when its members are only always expecting something from others and are not prepared to give or share; when its members are constantly criticising and finding fault with one another; when the gifts of its members are suppressed rather than identified and nurtured; and figuratively speaking, when the wine runs out.
In today’s gospel, we are reminded of the story of the wedding at Cana. This joyous occasion nearly ended in disaster because they ran out of wine. Sometimes in our churches, we see the same people serving in church year in year out without any successor, any change or new blood. We begin to think that the wine is also running out as there seems to be no new leaders and no new members. In the old testament, the Israelites also thought that the destruction of their country meant the end of everything. But such thinking is wrong, since Isaiah in the first reading gives a message of hope. All is not lost because God will redeem them. This led the Israelites to realise that glory and blessings came from God alone. Only God can ensure that the wine will never run out.
So what do we need to do? We should realise that our Christian community still has plenty of chances to grow and become stronger. We must recognise that we need a conversion of heart. We need to put God back into the center of our lives. If we have become complacent and satisfied with what we have, its time to wake up. It’s not enough to maintain the things that we have or remain as status quo. The community and the church must grow, and we must encourage and nurture new leaders and new members to eventually take over; otherwise, our community will eventually die. Let us pray that our community will be renewed by the Holy Spirit and that we will recognise our gifts and the gifts of others, and how we can use these gifts to serve the church and for the glory of God.