Our Father & Mother

A sermon for the Second Sunday after Epiphany, by Fr. Josh Leigeber.

At the wedding at Cana, Jesus reveals the mystery of His love for the Church. The Church is the Bride of Christ and our Mother, through whom God gives us new birth, nourishment, and care by His Word and Sacraments. Christ’s first miracle taking place at a wedding is no accident: marriage is God’s creation and a living image of His faithful, self-giving love for His Bride.

Earthly marriage, as St. Paul teaches in Ephesians, reflects Christ’s sacrificial love for the Church—a love sealed by the dowry of His own blood, by which He cleanses and claims her as His own. The miracle at Cana points beyond itself to the greater miracle still given to us today. At the altar, Christ sustains His Church with a foretaste of the wedding feast to come, transforming wine into His blood and strengthening His Bride as she awaits the day when Christ and His Church will be joined forever at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Listen to the entire sermon below.