https://x.com/BishopBarron/status/1881008431936553278
[get transcript or transcribe excerpts]

Isaiah 62:1-5
For Zion’s sake I will not be silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
until her vindication shines forth like the dawn
and her victory like a burning torch.
Nations shall behold your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
you shall be called by a new name
pronounced by the mouth of the LORD.
You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD,
a royal diadem held by your God.
No more shall people call you “Forsaken, “
or your land “Desolate, “
but you shall be called “My Delight, “
and your land “Espoused.”
For the LORD delights in you
and makes your land his spouse.
As a young man marries a virgin,
your Builder shall marry you;
and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride
so shall your God rejoice in you.

John 2:1-11
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine 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.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,
each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told them,
“Fill the jars with water.”
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them,
“Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”
So they took it.
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,
without knowing where it came from
— although the servers who had drawn the water knew —,
the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,
“Everyone serves good wine first,
and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;
but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee
and so revealed his glory,
and his disciples began to believe in him.

Reactions

• This explanation of today's reading offers powerful revelations pertaining to "The Fall" and the demiurge
  • Original sin of creation was to assume the power of the creator
  • The result of this falling out - here's the very long stretch that need not be exactly correct but may yet enlighten our understanding of the incomprehensible - is us and our world being a creation by the created
  • It is still true that we were created by the creator because he is the creator of all things, but we find ourselves initially in direct subordination to "the great dragon [that] was hurled down" (Revelation 12:7-10) the same way that the dragon and all the angels in heaven are subordinate to the creator >> Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down, that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. (Revelation 12:7-10)
• For their faith, the Israelites were first to hear the call of the creator, but it took them some time to realize who they were bargaining with; those who did realize were few and far between but they prophesied about it >> you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended! The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers, which in anger struck down peoples with unceasing blows, and in fury subdued nations with relentless aggression. All the lands are at rest and at peace; they break into singing. Even the junipers and the cedars of Lebanon gloat over you and say, “Now that you have been laid low, no one comes to cut us down.” The realm of the dead below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you— all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones— all those who were kings over the nations. They will all respond, they will say to you, “You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us.” All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you. How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a wilderness, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?” (Isaiah 14:4-17)
• Tying this into Bishop Barron's exegesis, Mary is the culmination of the Israelites' previously perpetual lack of true fulfillment; she has faith and purity enough to reflect the light of True God; and as is pointed out in the homily, her plea to her son, the Messiah, to "show himself" and intercede is the final plea of the Israelite faith for True God to pour out His grace on them

As my pastor frequently reminds us, the Bible is a story of a marriage. And as I frequently marvel, God tells a beautiful story... in this case, the story of heaven and earth married in a new covenant.

The notion that somehow the Israelites bargain at times with a lower entity is personally both unsettling and faith-affirming. It is unsettling because it requires that "god" in the Old Testament can't always be read as "God." It affirms faith, though, because of its explanatory power in support of so many portions of the New Testament that are otherwise confusing.

• It affirms why the shepherd in Matthew 18 and Luke 15 would leave the 99 sheep in search of the one gone astray.
• It removes the fog from John 10 (The Good Shepherd) when in a very tense escalation the Jews prepare to stone Jesus to death for blasphemy when he claims "I and the Father are one." He answers their charge in verse 34: "is it not written in your Law I have said you are 'gods,' to whom the word of God came?
• ...to be continued

This has left me thrilled with excitement to see how this frame will enlighten what we encounter this liturgical year.