The story of The Wedding at Cana in the Gospel according to John has been an important part of my life since I was in college. This story is what pulled me deeper into the beauty of the rosary and helped me develop an intimate relationship with Our Lady. Since then, these 12 simple verses of the Bible have guided my spiritual formation, my trust in The Lord and has even seeded itself deeply into my marriage and family.
My dear, holy and handsome husband and I chose this story to be the Gospel reading during our Wedding Mass on November 30, 2013 (one of the best days ever)! We chose this reading because, not only is the story about an awesome wedding, the amazing motherhood of Mary, and Jesus' first miracle, but the perfect blessing and grace Jesus bestowed upon the Bride and Groom stood out to us as well.
Here was a newly married couple whose wedding celebration was about to be in trouble. They had run out of wine, which might signal that their marriage might also be in trouble. However, little did they know, they had the Son of God as a wedding guest! The graces Jesus bestowed upon their marriage by revealing himself to the public for the first time is all any couple could ask for. What an amazing gift to receive such bountiful fruit (or wine) so early in their marriage!
Having the Lord be present at our wedding was a no brainer; and just as Mary trusted Jesus to work miracles at the wedding in Cana, my new husband and I trusted Him to work miracles in our marriage.
And that He did!
Seven short days after our wedding, Jesus graced us with the first miraculous fruit of our marriage: a sweet baby!
We always knew we would welcome children whenever the Lord desired them for us, we just didn't know they'd come so soon; especially since prior to getting married, Frankie and I discovered that it would probably be a little difficult for us to conceive. Through our Natural Family Planning classes, we noticed that based on a lot of issues in my charts, conception would more than likely be difficult to achieve right away. Our instructor told us that we would probably need to try for a while and perhaps even consult a NaPro Fertility doctor... Little did we all know, God had a far different plan!
Once we found out we were blessed with a perfect little life, we began to narrow down names. Before we got married, we had slightly discussed a few names, especially for girls. We both fully agreed that, no matter what, our first daughter would have one specific name:
Cana Marie Xavier
Choosing this name for our first daughter makes perfect sense to us. Not only does Cana hold a special meaning to us (as noted above), but knowing our sweet girl will be named after such a strong and purposeful event in the history of our Church is amazing.
I was recently asked by someone, "You do know that a name follows a person and impacts them for their entire life, right?" My answer, YES! A persons name holds so much power. Repeating the name of Jesus has fended off the devil for thousands of years, calling on the names of Saints is a powerful form of intercessory prayer and a person can find so much purpose in receiving their name (ie: Peter, Paul, Jacob, Abraham, Sarah). It is our prayer that our precious daughter will find purpose, truth and intercession through her name as she grows ever closer to Heaven throughout her life.
Developing a relationship with Mary, becoming a wife and receiving the blessing of this sweet baby girl has been made all the more holy and perfect with the help of the Wedding Feast at Cana. I cannot wait to see what comes next in this great story!
Stay tuned...
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