As with all of John s Gospel, this story will provide the patient, careful, and prayerful reader with rich rewards of understanding. It s wrong to think that a mystery is merely something that we cannot understand.
Mystery always escapes being defined or explained.
The only tool for probing mystery is symbol a deeper reality contained within and expressed by an outward sign, which may be a person, an action, or an event. And while this tool is usually experienced in community with others, it becomes our own and effective through quiet reflection and prayer. The wonder of the marriage feast at Cana is not merely that water became wine, but that this sign still speaks to us of God s saving love in Christ. The return of the small remnant of Jews from exile is described here as the espousal of God with his formerly abandoned people. This is an eloquent hymn of praise to God, Creator and Lord of all.