Snow!

Finally!
The snow has begun.
It is now almost eleven o'clock in the morning and this is the day the we have been hearing about for a few days now. A major snowstorm is on the way.
Thing is that it was supposed to arrive around seven this morning. It is now eleven and snow is finally starting to fall.
Of course, in advance of this arrival events were already being cancelled. Schools closed even before a flake had fallen. I had a physical therapy appointment and just called to cancel it. That appointment is for less than two hours from now and I was informed that I was already the fifteenth cancellation for today. And the snow has really just started in earnest about half hour ago.
We are about to be shut down.We are going into hibernation.
And we are expected to get between three and six inches of snow in this storm.
Three to six inches!
Well, maybe we may get a surprise and get a little more.
Or less!
But three to six!
In Michigan!
I am old enough to remember a February storm in 1965.
Try eleven inches!
And, of course, when those Michigan winds get hold of that snow, we get drifts and we got some good ones that year. We could not get ours cars out of the garage but that did not matter anyhow. No one was going anywhere, not on those roads back then.
Eleven inches was good for shutting down and canceling.
But three to six!
And then there was the storm of December 1 - 2, 1974 that dumped 19 inches on us.
That slowed down the Christmas shoppers.
Slowed down - but did not stop.
And that one did start out calling for about three inches of the white stuff, so, maybe, just maybe, this could be a repeat.
But don't count on it and it really doesn't matter anyhow.
Everything is probably already shut.
And while remembering classic Michigan snowstorms, there was one back in 1982 when the Super Bowl was held in the Pontiac Silverdome, the first time such an event was held in a northern venue.
The storm snarled traffic, the 49's had one of their bus's arrival delayed. Even then Vice-President George H.W. Bush got caught in traffic.
But was the event cancelled?
Are you kidding?
Anyhow, the snow is falling now.
In Michigan.
And Twenty-First Century residents are in awe.
And paralyzed!


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Both Old and New

It's an old story and yet it seems to have gained a new twist.
It's the story we hear this weekend.
Water into wine . . . the Wedding at Cana in Galilee.
You know the story very well . . . or do you?
"They have no wine!"
That observation at a wedding back then and even at a wedding today is a declaration of social disaster. Back then weddings lasted for days and the bride and groom were expected to keep their guests well stocked and well satisfied. To run out of wine was a serious matter. 
Even today wedding guests expect a certain degree of hospitality in food, drink and entertainment.
"They have no wine!"
Disaster!
This morning I was reading the daily reflection that I receive via email - Word on Fire by Bishop Robert Barron. In the middle of his reflection on this Gospel Bishop Barron drops this observation: Wine, in the Scriptures, is a symbol of the exuberance and intoxication of the divine life. When God is in us, we are lifted up, rendered joyful, transfigured. 
Or said in another way - Wine, in the Scriptures, is a sign of God with us and, therefore, we being able to embrace the fulness of life and its joys.
"They have no wine!"
That declaration is made by Mary, our Mother, the Mother of all.
Woman (and that, remember, is what Jesus calls her in this story) speaks on behalf of all humankind. Her declaration is a statement of the need each and every one of us has for the Presence of God in our lives. Without that Presence our lives are empty. There is nothing to celebrate no matter how successful those lives may seem in other quarters.
A Mother speaks on behalf of all of us.
She declares our need for what only her Son can give to us.
And then she sets out advice for us: "Do whatever He tells you."
And when we do!
Wine!
An abundance of wine!
The best of wine!
God only gives the best! And plenty of it!
This is not just the story of a wedding at Can in Galilee long, long ago.
It is a story of today and a story that unfolds anytime someone listens to that Woman, that Mother.
"Do whatever He tells you!"


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Where did they go?

"What happened to Three Kings?"
After Mass the other day I was asked that question.
The questioner explained: Last Sunday was the Feast of the Epiphany but what happened to the Feast of the Three Kings? We used to have that feast. So, what happened?
Actually, I was able to explain, it was always the Feast of the Epiphany. Only in popular devotion did some start calling it the Feast of the Three Kings. However, Three Kings was never on our calendar and never an official feast title.
And truth be told, we need to ask if ever there were only just three and if any were really kings!
Check that out in Matthew's Gospel 2: 1 - 12.
No mention  of kings or any set number!
But as to the feast - well, it is, has been and likely for all time will continue to be the Epiphany.
Epiphany means "manifestation" or "revelation."
What we celebrate is Jesus revealed to the nations as the Promised One, the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Long Awaited One.
The story we tell on Epiphany is of how a star guided these mysterious travelers from some distant places to discover the Promised One.
But we do not stop there.
The following Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus - Epiphany, another manifestation.
This time the Voice is heard: "This is my beloved Son," and the Spirit is seen. Epiphany!
And this year on the Sunday after that we continue to celebrate the Epiphany as Jesus changes water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. Epiphany!
However, while the Epiphanies continue, in the Roman Calendar on the day after the Baptism of the Lord we return to Ordinary Time. This is the time that stretches until Ash Wednesday and so it links our two great seasons - Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter.
Our brothers and sisters in the Christian Faith do not share our return to Ordinary Time. They continue to observe the time of Epiphany right up to Lent. The Sundays between the Baptism and Ash Wednesday are known as Sundays in Epiphany.
As a matter of fact the final Sunday before Lent in Christian denominations other than our own is known as Transfiguration Sunday.
I find that rather significant as in a very real way the Transfiguration is also an epiphany!
And the rationale behind the Sunday before Lent being this epiphany is to strengthen us for the cross and for those crosses which we must bear in our life journey.
When I finished my explanation of Epiphany to my questioner after that Mass, the response was, "Wow! Even at my age I have learned something new."
Perhaps that, too, was an epiphany.
So, what happened to the Three Kings?
Well, they and many, many others down through the ages found the Promised One. And men and women even today continue to discover Him.
Epiphany is a day, a season and a constant.
The star, in its many, many forms continues to lead to the Promised One.
After all, what good is Christmas unless we find and welcome Him?