Drink, drank, drunk (at Cana)

This is pretty insidery Catholic but I think of general interest anyway. The Catholic Church initially greeted the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version) with enthusiasm and then withdrew its support because of some serious reservations. The biggest problem was that Isaiah 7:14 translated a key phrase as saying "young woman is with child" instead of "virgin is with child".

Here in Canada, the bishops rushed to adopt new lectionaries (the book that readings at the mass are read from) based on the NRSV before the Vatican voiced its objections. A lot of more traditionally inclined Catholics (including not a few priests) would like to see these new lectionaries done away with but it's much harder to change something than to prevent change even if all you want to to is change back to what went before.

Yesterday in the sacristy while I was preparing to doing my bit for an upcoming mass, a rather traditional Catholic approached the priest and tried to convince him to change the words of that days Gospel when he read it out loud to the congregation. That's a pretty stunning thing to do on your own authority.

Here is what he objected to. The story is the wedding at Cana, which I trust most people know (John 2: 1-11 if you don't). It is the occasion of Jesus turning water into wine. when he has done this, the steward compliments the bridegroom on the quality of this new wine (which he does not know the origin of):

Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.

Compare that with the New American Bible used south of the border and you will see the issue that bothered my traditionalist friend right away:

Everyone serves good wine first, and then when the people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.

Who is right? I don't know but if you asked me to bet, I'd put my money on the NRSV being the more accurate translation. Which is another way of saying that I trust current liberal scholarship over current conservative scholarship.

But, that aside, I have a hard time figuring out why people care so much. Drink freely and you will be drunk. And it is clear from the quote that the wine has had enough impact to make the guests less discerning which is just another way of saying they are drunk. And Jesus converts one awful lot of water into wine here. By my calculation, he makes the equivalent of 740 bottles of wine. If the guests aren't drunk yet, they will be.

A little more insider Catholicism, this text is one of several that are read as Jesus validating the sacrament of marriage. It seems to me that we have to read it as his validation of feasting at a marriage as well.

Lent isn't that far away now, let's celebrate while the bridegroom is with us. No, I'm not advocating anyone getting falling down drunk, but do loosen up a little.