In today’s Scripture reading, we see the Lord attending a wedding feast held in Cana of Galilee along with His disciples. Jesus’ mother in the flesh, Mary, was also present there. It is said that Jewish wedding feasts usually last for a week or sometimes even up to two weeks. The groom hosts the bride’s guests in his home, where fun games are played and there is much singing and dancing. The guests are served with wine, along with various dishes. The groom and bride would often sing love songs to each other, setting the festive mood for the party.

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Mankind living in this world now is heading to the final endpoint. The climate crisis is such a severe threat to this planet earth that the whole world has signed on to the Convention on Climate Change, with each country adopting policies designed to reduce carbon emissions through industrial restructuring. The entire world is beset by an atmosphere of war that is once again engulfing the post-Cold War era. Stemming from the ongoing pandemic, war, and surging protectionism in raw materials and food, the global supply chain continues to be destabilized while inflation is running rampant, threatening to bring poverty. There already are countries that are struggling with debt crisis. Amid all this, the great powers are competing against each other over hegemony in the 21st century. This and other numerous factors are destabilizing the entire world and showing signs of impending war between nations.

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After the first wave of Jewish exiles returned from their Babylonian captivity, Zerubbabel sought to rebuild the Temple and asked the Samaritans to participate, but his request was rejected. This is because the Samaritans had been in a bitter conflict with the Temple of Jerusalem for no less than 200 years over its location, as they believed that Mount Gerizim was where Abraham and Jacob built their altar, and the Temple should have been built there instead of Jerusalem.

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In Isaiah chapter 6 that we just read, we can see various visions God showed to the Prophet Isaiah. In these visions, the Prophet Isaiah saw seraphim, each of which had six wings. With two wings the seraphim covered their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew. They cried out to one another and praised God, saying:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isaiah 6:3) We can also see angels praising God like this in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament.
The Prophet Isaiah trembled in fear, saying to himself, “I am ruined, for I have seen the holy One!” When he saw himself standing before God, he could see that he was doomed to death. However, one of the seraphim took a live coal with the tongs from the altar, touched Isaiah’s mouth with it, and said to him, “Your iniquity is taken away.”

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In today’s Scripture reading, we see Jesus carrying the Cross to Mount Calvary. By this time Jesus was already exhausted from receiving forty stripes minus one. When He could not bear the weight of the Cross, the Roman soldiers grabbed a Cyrenian man named Simon and made him bear the Cross. There was a group of women mourning and lamenting at that time, who adored Jesus as His followers. To these crying women, Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.” Today, I would like to bear witness of what Jesus said to the women here, as it entails many spiritual lessons for us now also.

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Today, I would like to share God’s blessings with you from the passage in John chapter 4 that we just read. In this passage, we see a Samaritan woman meeting Jesus by a well, and from the conversation they were having, we can see the true Word flowing that makes us never thirst again. For you and me who are now living in this world, the Samaritan woman here is also our shadow.
Jesus was on His way to Galilee when He stopped by Samaria, where this woman was residing. In fact, Jesus did this deliberately, going to Jacob’s well and waiting for her, so that He would meet her. The Samaritan city called Sychar, where the woman was from, was where Jacob and his son Joseph, the ancestors of the Israelites, once lived, and Jacob’s well was preserved there.

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God showed the Prophet Ezekiel a valley full of bones. God said to him, “Ezekiel, can these bones live?” The Prophet Ezekiel answered and said, “Lord, You know.” God then said to him, “I command you to prophesy to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord,’ and the Prophet Ezekiel prophesied the Word of God exactly as God commanded, saying, “Breath, breathe on these slain, that they may live.” Breath then came into these bones, they turned into the living, and their number was like an exceedingly great army.

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