“When the wine (at the Cana wedding) ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water” “and draw some for the headwaiter.’” “The headwaiter (then) tasted the water that had become wine.”
We live among people who are in need and among people like Mary, who are aware of their need, and ask us to be kind. When Mary says to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you,” she knows that whatever Jesus does he will be kind. People asking for and receiving kindness is being diminished socially by MAGA demanding and expecting obedience to orders. For very different intentions and results, MAGA members are saying to the rest of us, in reference to Trump, “do whatever he tells you.” Where Mary expressed compassionate care, MAGA master Trump issues Executive Orders (EO). Trump’s first administration issued over 200 executive orders. The executive orders were focused on capital gain for Trump and his CEO class. For example, one EO ordered land to be stolen from Native Americans and given to oil companies, Bear Ears. Similarly, EOs lowered corporate taxes and enhanced the plunder possibilities for Trump and his CEO class. Other orders focused on increasing the suffering of the people they plunder, like people who are immigrants and people who are poor. Trump also issued EOs increasing cybersecurity surveillance that enabled his administration to spy on people and their data without warrants. This time the Trump administration is forecasting 100 executive orders on Day 1. Trump will continue and worsen his previous Executive Orders. He will allow for more corporate theft including his own, for example, by invoking the 14th amendment to eliminate a ceiling on the Federal debt. It will enable him and his CEO class unlimited borrowing and therefore unlimited spending for personal capital gain. He will worsen the suffering of the immigrants he plunders, like rescinding birthright citizenship. Notes leaked to Politico from a GOP meeting show MAGA will worsen the suffering of people made poor. The document is titled, “SPENDING REFORM OPTIONS Policy Explainer Topline Savings: $5.3 – $5.7 Trillion.” MAGA masters have outlined deep cuts to social programs like Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as well as food and medical aid to families and children in SNAP, TANF, and FMAP. The MAGA master will worsen warrantless surveillance. The surveillance this time will be done with the help of a new set of U.S. robber barons, Tech CEOs like Sam Altman (OpenAI, parent company of ChatGPT), Jeff Bezos (Washington Post, Amazon), Sergey Brin and Sundar Pichai (Google), Tim Cook (Apple), Elon Musk (X), Peter Thiel (Paypal, Palantir Technologies), and Mark Zuckerberg (Meta). In the same way the U.S. tech CEOs of the 1930s and 40s, like IBM and Ford, were complicit with Germany’s Nazi regime, so too those of today’s era are complicit with this one. The complicity includes plans to use facial recognition software, hacked user names, and passwords to identify then target and do whatever unkindness MAGA wants to do to persons disloyal to Trump.
We are not moving toward a peaceful social revolution as Jesus of Nazareth is soon to undertake in the Gospel. But we could be. We live among people who are in need and people like Mary, who are aware of their need, and ask us to be kind. One of them will ask us to do what is kind. What will be our response? Will we say, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” But, like Jesus, will we make this our hour and do the kindness that needs to be done?
Prayer: Beautiful Spirit, guide us to being brave in little things and also big things. Let every darkness be transformed with our light.
Questions: With whom can we join to participate in a peaceful social revolution?
January 19, 2025 Gospel John 2:1-11 Second Sunday in Ordinary Time