CANA AND THE JUBILEE, CHRIST'S TRANSFORMING ACTION

VATICAN CITY, JAN 14, 2001 (VIS) - In reflections made before reciting the angelus with the faithful in St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul spoke of today's Gospel story of the first miracle performed by Christ at the wedding feast of Cana, calling it "the first 'sign' with which He manifested His glory and inspired faith in His disciples."

"Meditating on this page of the Gospel, one thinks spontaneously of the just-concluded Jubilee, which was for the Church and for the world a sort of great and memorable 'sign'. A year in which Christ, as He did at Cana, transformed the 'water' of our spiritual poverty into the generous 'wine' of renewal and commitment. And now that the great Jubilee has ended, it is with a greater impetus that we have again undertaken the 'ordinary' path, keeping our eyes more than ever fixed on the Lord's face, as I wrote in the Apostolic Letter 'Novo millennio ineunte'."

"The Holy Year," the Pope concluded, "has opened many hearts to hope and has enlightened the path of the world with the light of Christ."

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