Daily Devotion to the Theotokos

 Eighteenth Day of the Month

"And on the third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus and His disciples had also been invited to the wedding. And when the wine ran out, Jesus' mother said ' mother said to Him: They have no wine. Jesus said to her: What is that to you and Me, madam? My time has not yet come. His mother said to the servants: Do whatever He tells you..." (John 2:1-5)

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The Theotokos became an apostle of Christ, telling the servants, "Whatever He tells you to do, do it." "If you obey My Son, You will see the power of God." When they had fulfilled the command of Jesus, they saw the work of God.

At the wedding in Cana, the Holy Spirit revealed to us the power of Mary's intercessions before God. When Mary told Jesus, "They have no wine," He replied, "My time has not yet come." Nevertheless, He worked the miracle and turned the water into wine.

Think carefully about this, Orthodox people. When Mary asked Jesus for help, He told her that the time had not yet come for Him to work such a miracle but because she asked, the order of God's plan was changed. Christ worked the miracle "out of its time," because of Mary's intercession. No one can come to the level of the Theotokos, but would our prayers not also have more power and effect if we would acquire a purity, faith and obedience like hers?

O Christian, how seldom do we "do whatever Christ tells us to do." Since we do not obey Him, we do not see the power and work of God in our lives. If only we would listen to the words of the Most Holy Theotokos and "do whatever He tells us," not only would our own lives be transformed, but the world around us would be changed and made better.

All the woes that have fallen on mankind, and all the sorrows of war, hunger, homelessness, the ecology crisis and drugs; all these things are a result of mankind's refusal to listen to God and "whatever He tells us to do, do it."

Each one of us, can make a difference. Each one of us can make the world a better place to live in, and have an influence on all humanity if we begin by working on ourselves. Let each one of us try to the best of our ability, to listen to the words of the Holy Virgin, and obey the words of our Saviour. Having seen, in the Holy Scripture, the power of her intercessions, turn to her in prayer, saying: