TWO WHATEVERS

“Do whatever He tells you!” This was our Blessed Mother’s request to the waiters at the Wedding Feast at Cana, as recorded in John’s Gospel, when shortly afterwards her Divine Son Jesus would think water into wine.

In so doing He was obeying His mother’s request to take care of a situation where the wine had run out on the ongoing festivities. 

Our Blessed Mother's great words quoted above were her last ones spoken in scripture in John's gospel (2:5).We can think of them as her motto. And what followed was our Lord’s wonderful miracle rooted in loving acquiescence to her wishes for his Divine assistance in straightening out what could have otherwise been quite an embarrassing predicament.

And, of course, it’s worth noting that Jesus turned the over 120 gallons of water in those six stone jars not just into any old wine, but good wine, as noted by the wedding feast’s steward. 

As a reminder, one that is much needed I suspect, considering how much this is misunderstood, we Catholics honor Mary in our prayers to her. We do not worship her. When it comes to our prayerful requests we bring her for her Divine Son to answer she is an intercessor not an interloper.

And as such her prayers on our behalf to Jesus as the Mother of God  can be especially powerful! Think also of this great prayer found on the Miraculous Medal: “O Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee!” 

In the wonderfully nuanced world of language, it's amazing how the tone of one's voice can change the entire meaning of a sentence or even of a word.

Take the word “whatever”, for example. It can either reflect a rock solid determination to accomplish a task, as in the phrase “whatever it takes”, or it's almost exact opposite, a word uttered with a resigned or bored indifference, as in whatever. 

Think in this regard of our Blessed Mother's Fiat, her great assent to being the mother of God in the Annunciation itself, “be it done to me according to Thy word” (Lk 1:38). Do we not see here that great underlying message, whatever you wish, whatever it takes, along these lines? 

Do we see Jesus as Mary did, with focused energetic love in her “whatever”, when she said, “Do whatever he tells you?” Or is our "whatever" one of resigned indifference?

These days, it's very easy to have that take over as our attitude when we let what is known as acedia, defined as spiritual or mental sloth or apathy, numb us much as we might wish to be numbed from a stiff drink or some other sorts of mood changers. Asking Mary for her assistance in fighting this is a must!

When I read many accounts in the Gospels of Our Lord striving to make us understand the kind of devotion he prizes most, the words “whatever it takes” come to mind.

Jesus tells the rich young man, for example, in effect, to drop everything and follow Him, divesting himself of all his prized possessions (Mt 19:16-22). That didn't work in this case, unfortunately. 

We read though how first Peter and Andrew (Mt 4:18-20) and then James and John (Mt 4:21-22), did indeed drop everything when called by Jesus to follow him, abandoning their nets and their fishing businesses, to join him as part of the first apostolate. 

In a larger sense, that is the underlying maxim behind the words in the Lord's Prayer, “Thy will be done”. Or as Jesus said at Gethsemane in prayer to his Heavenly Father and ours the night before his crucifixion, “not my will, but Thine be done” (Lk 22:42). “Whatever you wish” becomes part of “whatever it takes”. 

Think also of our Lord's two examples of "whatever it takes" regarding the kingdom of heaven. We read in Matthew's Gospel of the man who finds a great treasure hidden in a field and then sells all he has to buy that field. And right afterwards, we read of the merchant in search of fine pearls, who sells everything to buy a pearl of great price (Mt 13:44-45). 

And what does Jesus say about the number of those who are saved or not? “Strive to enter the narrow gate” (Lk 13:24). We see “whatever it takes” at work here again. When it comes to reaching the kingdom of heaven, this business of striving comes to mind from these examples just mentioned, doesn't it? 

But this also comes up in the parable of the sower (Mt 13:1-8), albeit indirectly. We read of seeds that get eaten up by birds, wither away on rocky ground, or are choked up by thorns. And then there are the seeds that fall on solid ground and produce good fruit. 

As the commentary in the Ignatius Study Bible puts it so well, describing Jesus' explanation of that parable, “The parable of the Sower illustrates how indifferent responses to the word of the kingdom prove unfruitful. Distractions come from the world, the flesh and the devil. On the other hand, fruit brought forth from the responsive heart abounds. Fruit is a common biblical image for the good works and faithfulness that flow from God's grace.” 

Christ warned elsewhere not to let one's hearts become drowsy from carousing, drunkenness, and the anxieties of daily life (Lk 21:34-36). That is part of the other “whatever”, that of ambivalence to following our Lord and His gospel message.

Jesus asks us constantly to approach him with the “whatever” of loving determination to follow him, rather than that of drowsy ambivalence to our Lord or to much that is spiritual.

I think, more than ever these days, as St Paul said in a different context (2 Cor 6:2), now is an acceptable time to turn closer to Jesus, rather than away from our Lord, not saying “whatever” to Him in bored lip service, where the heart and the head are in two diametrically opposite places.

But rather, in prayer, if nothing else, to ask him for his help and grace, to say to Him, “Be it done to me according to Thy word”, that is to say, "whatever it takes". 

And don't feel you can't turn to our Lord in those moments or even extended periods of time when your "whatever" is more anemic. Help Jesus to help you with the perseverance much needed; so that when you pass from this life into eternity, whenever and however that may occur, Christ can look upon you lovingly, saying as he did in illustrating another gospel parable (Mt 25:21), “well done, good and faithful servant, share your master's joy!” 

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