Friends, in today’s Gospel, as the Lord anticipates his glorification on the cross, he prays, “Father, the hour has come.” The “hour” was a focal point of Jesus’ entire life. At the outset of his ministry, Jesus declined his mother’s request at the wedding of Cana saying, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.”
Mary is presented here as the new Eve, the new representative of the human race, with whom God is seeking union. But why the aloof and off-putting words? The best explanation, in my judgment, is that this is a narrative device that serves to highlight the importance of Jesus’ “hour” and that shows the relation between what he does at Cana and what will transpire in that hour.
The “hour” is code for the Paschal Mystery, Jesus’ passage through death to life. In that event, God will effect the perfect marriage between himself and the human race, for he will enter into the most intimate union with us, embracing even death itself and leading us into the bridal chamber of the divine life.