# The significance of the third day and the wedding at Cana
*2020-02-23*

> Bill Young reflects on the spiritual meaning of 'the third day' in scripture, connecting the events at Mount Sinai and the Wedding at Cana to the Resurrection of Christ.

## Hope for Easter Sunday

Today is Tuesday of the fourth week of Lent. As we navigate these challenging times, I have been listening to the president and his team. He expressed a desire for the country to get back to work by Easter Sunday, April 12th. Let us pray for that, because it would be such a blessing if the churches and the archdioceses—including Miami and Philadelphia—could open by Easter. 

Part of our Lenten journey this year has been an unexpected sacrifice. We didn't know we would be giving up the physical reception of Mass, Holy Communion, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. While we rely on spiritual communion for now, we hope to return to the church to celebrate the Resurrection together.

## The Chaplet of Divine Mercy

As we are in the three o'clock hour, we begin the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. [The host prays the opening prayers, the Our Father, Hail Mary, and the Apostles' Creed, followed by the five decades of the Chaplet, invoking the mercy of God upon the whole world.] 

We also include a prayer for the souls of priests and religious, asking that they be immersed in God's unfathomable mercy. They are the channels through which God's mercy flows to all mankind. We pray that those consecrated to His service may perform worthy works of mercy so that all may glorify the Father.

## God at Work in Me

In our daily reading from 'Journey of the Heart,' we reflect on Exodus 33:14: 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.' There is a profound peace in spending one hour in the presence of the Lord, showing Him everything we feel, think, and experience without hiding anything. 

Even when we do not feel a human embrace or hear a human voice, the Lord speaks to us and embraces us in ways our senses cannot always detect. God is greater than our thoughts and our hearts. He touches us in places unknown even to ourselves, creating a riverbed through which His grace can flow toward the open sea.

## The Symbolism of the Third Day

I want to focus on the 'third day,' a theme that appears frequently in the readings from Father Michael Gately. In the Gospel of John, the wedding at Cana begins 'on the third day.' For those steeped in the law of Moses, this phrase recalls Mount Sinai. God told Moses to prepare the people for the third day, for that was when the Lord would descend upon the mountain to ratify the covenant. 

To get ready, the people had to be consecrated—set apart for God. They were called to be different from other nations, bound by the law to live in holiness and become a light to all people. This was summarized in the Shema: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.'

## From Sinai to Cana

The 'third day' at Cana points us toward a new law. While the old covenant at Sinai was ratified by the blood of a slaughtered animal, the new covenant is ratified by the blood of the Lamb of God. The miracle of changing water into wine is a sign that points to a greater reality: Christ changing wine into His Blood in the Eucharist. 

At Cana, Mary tells the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.' This is our call to the new law of love—to love one another as He loved us. The wedding at Cana symbolizes the marriage between the Bridegroom, Christ, and His Bride, the Church. By keeping the word of God in our hearts and on our lips, we overcome hypocrisy and become an authentic light of love to the nations.

*Just as Israel prepared for the third day at Sinai, we prepare our hearts for the Resurrection, moving from the old law to the new law of love ratified in the Eucharist.*