The iPadre Catholic Podcast

Last Sunday, we saw an Epiphany of Our Lord at Cana in Galilee. Now, we begin to see Him acting. This is indeed the Son of the Living God.

Today’s gospel presents us with two miracles
- the first is a leper who approaches Jesus
- Leprosy was more than an illness, it was a social stigma
 – Anyone who contracted the dreaded disease was cast out from society
 – They were forbidden to enter any town
 – They were to wear bells and call out as they approached: Leper, I am a leper
The social rejection was probably much worse than the disease, and that was horrible

The leper approached Jesus with faith
- “Lord, if You will, You can make me clean.”
 – first we see, He recognized our Lord’s divinity – he did not say, master or teacher but Lord
Jesus acts immediately “I will; be made clean.”
- Jesus doesn’t pray, He doesn’t call upon the Father or God
 – Jesus is the healer and He acts immediately

The second miracle is just as amazing, or even more so
- A Roman Centurion approached Jesus to ask healing of his son who is at home
- Jesus promises to visit the man’s home and cure the child
 – but the Centurion feels unworthy, so he said “only say the word”
- Jesus promises that the boy would be healed
 – And at that very hour, he was healed
 – Jesus didn’t even need to go

Both the leper and the centurion had faith
- In fact, Jesus speaking of the centurion said He had never found such faith in all of Israel
These men are an example to us all
- Both had faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
 – and because of their faith and trust, Jesus acted, He acted immediately

We have more than the leper, we have more than the centurion. You and I receive the Living Lord Jesus in Holy Communion. He is fully present in our body and in our soul. We are closer to Him than they ever were on this earth. If He is so close, what more will He not do for you and me? if only we come to Him with that same faith: “Lord, I am not worth that You should enter under my roof, but only say the word…”

On this Sunday, the Church continues the Epiphany of the Lord — the gradual manifestation of who Jesus truly is. Today He reveals His glory not in a palace or a temple, but at a wedding feast.

The Gospel places us in Cana of Galilee. A wedding is taking place, and Jesus, Mary, and the Apostles are present. This is not accidental. Our Lord chooses a wedding as the setting for His first public miracle because He has come to reveal the mystery of divine love and covenant.

This wedding would have been very different from those we attend today. For us, it is a ceremony, a brief reception, and then it is over. In the time of our Lord, weddings lasted for days. They were true community celebrations, involving the entire village. This explains why the wine ran out. One had to be well stocked with food and drink, and to run out of wine was not merely inconvenient — it was a real humiliation for the young couple.

We are told there were six stone water jars. We should not imagine small decorative pitchers like those often seen in paintings. These were enormous vessels, roughly four feet high and three feet wide, carved from solid stone and so heavy that it took several men to move them. They were used for ritual purification — for washing, not for drinking. Yet Christ transforms what was meant for external cleansing into wine that brings joy. This is already a sign. He comes not merely to wash the outside, but to transform the heart.

We never learn the names of the bride and groom. Only Jesus, Mary, and the Apostles are mentioned. This is because this wedding points beyond itself. It is a sign of another marriage — the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. Christ is the true Bridegroom. The Church is His Bride. Our Lady stands between them, giving the Bride to her Son. The Apostles stand as the first ministers of the Church.

Through Baptism, we ourselves have been wedded to Christ and to His Church. This sacred covenant is sealed in His Blood. When we ran out of wine — when humanity exhausted its strength and hope — Christ poured out the new wine of His Precious Blood.

This covenant is renewed at every Holy Mass. Holy Communion is our participation in this sacred bond. In receiving Him, the union is strengthened and deepened. We become more and more like Him, the Beloved of our souls.

As we renew this sacred covenant today, let us remember: we belong to Christ, and He is ours in return. In this Holy Sacrifice, we are reminded that our destiny is not merely this world, but eternal life with Him forever.

The School of Holiness at Nazareth

Today’s Collect sets both the tone and the purpose of this feast. In a few carefully chosen words, the Church teaches us that family life itself has been sanctified—made holy— by the obedience of the Son of God within the household of Nazareth.

Our Lord Jesus Christ consecrated family life by His obedience to Mary and Joseph. We rightly proclaim that Christ was obedient to the Father,
but we must not overlook the astonishing truth that the eternal Son of God was also obedient to His human parents. Pause for a moment and consider what this means: God made Himself obedient to His own creatures. He did this not out of necessity, but to give us an example to follow. In the plan of God, obedience is not humiliation—it is the very road to holiness.

By His obedience, Jesus teaches us humility. This obedience was not momentary or symbolic; it was constant and enduring. From Nazareth to Calvary, He submits His will in love. In the Garden of Olives, He cried out: “Not My will, but Your will be done.” And, He teaches us the same in the prayer He Himself gave us: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.”

This obedience is not merely an action—it is a virtue, rooted in humility. Humility lowers the self so that God may be exalted. As Saint Paul reminds us: “He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death.” When we practice humility, something within us must die. Pride is weakened. Self-will is surrendered. And in that dying, grace begins to live more fully within us.

The Collect tells us that Christ “consecrated family life with ineffable virtues.” That is the true ideal of the family—not perfection, but holiness.   The family becomes a garden where God plants virtue, nurtures it through sacrifice, and brings forth fruit in due season.

When Jesus is truly at the center of family life, the virtues—and all the workings of the Holy Ghost—begin to flourish. As Fr. Patrick Peyton so often preached, “The family that prays together stays together.” Prayer should mark the ordinary rhythm of the home: before meals, in the morning, and at night before rest. Families should be encouraged to foster the daily Rosary together, and, when possible, a family Holy Hour before the Most Blessed Sacrament. It is also fitting that our homes visibly reflect this faith, with crucifixes and images of Our Lord, Our Lady, and the saints, reminding us daily of whom we belong to and whom we serve.

Let us follow the example of our Lord, who humbled Himself in obedience to Mary and Joseph, so that we too may grow in virtue and holiness, and allow our families to become places where God is truly at home.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. The Gospel appointed for this feast is the same as that of the Feast of the Circumcision. It is the shortest Gospel of the entire year, yet it loses nothing by its brevity, for it makes its point swiftly and unmistakably: the Child is named Jesus.

We are blessed to live in a time when this feast is firmly established in the life of the Church, for this was not always the case. There was a time when no Feast of the Holy Name existed at all. St. Bernardine of Siena, the great champion of devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus, was summoned to Rome and accused of heresy—not once, but on several occasions—for promoting this devotion. His opponents considered it a dangerous innovation. Imagine such opposition to devotion to the very Name that the Archangel Gabriel commanded both the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph to give to the Christ Child.

We do not celebrate just any name today; we celebrate the Most Holy Name of Jesus. This Name is holy because it belongs to the Son of God, the Eternal Word made flesh. It is holy because Gabriel did not speak in his own authority, but as the messenger of the Eternal Father who sent him. It is holy because it is the Name above every other name, for, as Scripture declares, “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” This is a Name that must be honored, reverenced, and boldly proclaimed. As St. Bernardine wrote, “The Name of Jesus is the glory of the Church militant, the joy of the Church triumphant, and the hope of the Church suffering.”

Throughout history, countless preachers have proclaimed this Name, saints have died with it upon their lips, and Christians have been tortured and martyred for the Name of Jesus. Yet the Holy Name must be restored anew to every corner of the Church. Too often homilies have become generic, religious instruction has been stripped bare, and even sacred edifices have been scrubbed clean of the Holy Name. St. Bernardine warned us plainly: “Remove the Name of Jesus from preaching, and it loses its fire; remove it from prayer, and it loses its power.”

Let us therefore resolve to call frequently upon the Holy Name of Jesus throughout our days. We must purify our tongues, lest we ever take that Holy Name in vain. Many are rightly offended by vulgar words, yet they should tremble at the misuse of the Name of our dear Savior. As St. Bernardine so beautifully teaches, “Nothing more sweet can be sung, nothing more joyful can be heard, nothing more powerful can be invoked than the Name of Jesus.”

May the Holy Name of Jesus—terror of demons and sweetness to the angels—be praised, adored, and loved by all peoples, in every nation, age, and place. May His most holy Name ever flow from our lips like a sweet fragrance, driving away all evil and drawing down grace upon grace into our souls.

The Introit for this Sunday’s Mass is profoundly moving, for in just a few lines it expresses the entire mystery of the Incarnation: “When a profound stillness compassed everything and the night in its swift course was half spent, Your all-powerful Word, O Lord, bounded from heaven’s royal throne.” The Incarnation and the birth of Christ did not take place amid bright lights, public spectacle, or human applause. They did not happen on a stage or beneath the glare of fame. Rather, they occurred in the most hidden and humble way imaginable.

Tradition holds that the Son of God was born at midnight—the darkest hour of the night, when most of the world is asleep and all is still. “The night in its swift course was half spent.” The world had nothing left to give. Humanity was exhausted, empty of hope, and powerless to save itself. It is precisely then that God intervenes. The mystery comes to a dark and broken world not because man has prepared himself, but because man cannot help himself. When human effort reaches its limit, divine mercy steps in.

The mystery of the Incarnation stands in complete contrast to the way the world acts. The Lord of heaven and earth does not seek applause or fanfare. He comes in humility—hidden from the eyes of the wise and learned, and revealed to the poor in spirit, to those willing to receive Him with humility and love. Our Lord did not seek recognition or honor from the world. As Saint Paul teaches, “Though He was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself” (Philippians 2:6–8). Truly, the ways of God are not the ways of men.

The phrase “Your all-powerful Word” deliberately echoes the words of Saint John’s Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The eternal Logos, the Word through whom all things were made, becomes flesh in the Immaculate womb of the Virgin Mary. The Creator enters His creation—not diminished, but hidden.

The Introit tells us that the Word “bounded from heaven’s royal throne.” He leapt down without hesitation or delay. This is a decisive act of love on behalf of fallen humanity. The Eternal Word descends from heaven to rescue a people wounded by sin and disobedience. God became man so that man might share in the life of God. Through grace, we are not merely restored; we are elevated. Before the Fall, our first parents possessed a perfect natural life. Because of the Incarnation, we are now offered something greater: supernatural life.

As the Eternal Word leapt down from heaven to rescue us, let us now leap into His sacred arms, that we may be strengthened, protected, and comforted by His holy embrace.