Second Sunday of the Year

Isaiah 62: 1-5
About Zion I will not be silent,
about Jerusalem I will not grow weary,
until her integrity shines out like the dawn
and her salvation flames like a torch.

The nations will then see your integrity,
all the kings your glory,
and you will be called by a new name,
one which the mouth of the Lord will confer.
You are to be a crown of splendour in the hand of the Lord,
a princely diadem in the hand of your God;
no longer are you to be named “Forsaken,”
nor your land “Abandoned,”
but you shall be called “My Delight,”
and your land “The Wedded”;
for the Lord takes delight in you
and your land will have its wedding.

Like a young man marrying a virgin,
so will the one who built you wed you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices in his bride,
so will your God rejoice in you.

Psalm 95: 1-3, 7-10, r3
O síng a new sóng to the Lórd,
síng to the Lórd all the éarth.
O síng to the Lórd, bless his náme.

Procláim his hélp day by dáy,
téll among the nátions his glóry
and his wónders amóng all the péoples.

Give the Lórd, you fámilies of péoples,
give the Lórd glóry and pówer;
give the Lórd the glóry of his náme.

Bring an óffering and énter his cóurts,
wórship the Lórd in his témple.
O éarth, trémble befóre him.

Procláim to the nátions: “God is kíng.”
The wórld he made fírm in its pláce;
he will júdge the péople in fáirness.

1 Corinthians 12: 4-11
There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to 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. The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose. One may have the gift of preaching with wisdom given him by the Spirit; another may have the gift of preaching instruction given him by the same Spirit; another the gift of faith given by the same Spirit; another again the gift of healing, through this one Spirit; one, the power of miracles; another, prophecy; another the gift of recognising spirits; another the gift of tongues and another the ability to interpret them. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who distributes different gifts to different people just as he chooses.

John 2: 1-12
Three days later there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. When they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the wedding was all finished, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said, “Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not come yet.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” There were six stone water jars standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water,” and they filled them to the brim. “Draw some out now”, he told them, “and take it to the steward”. They did this; the steward tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from – only the servants who had drawn the water knew – the steward called the bridegroom and said, “People generally serve the best wine first, and keep the cheaper sort till the guests have had plenty to drink; but you have kept the best wine till now.”

This was the first of the signs given by Jesus: it was given at Cana in Galilee. He let his glory be seen, and his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and the brothers, but they stayed there only a few days.

In the first reading we are given a poetic description of the relationship between God and the people of Israel: like that of a married couple.

The psalm is about singing a new song to the lord.

The second reading is not quite linked with the others, and is about the gifts that God gives to each of us.

The gospel is right at the beginning of John's gospel and shows Jesus immediately giving a real example of the new relationship between God and his people.

• In the gospel, Jesus has just called his disciples. Can you think of anything significant about this being on the third day?
• Can you think of a reason why the fact that there are 6 stone jars might be significant?
• Do you think there is a reason that the water used for washing instead of drinking water is turned into wine?
• What do you think this gospel tells us about the relationship between God and mankind? How does Jesus make this different from before?