This is the time of year when we tend to focus on new things.  This week’s Gospel also centres on a new thing - Jesus’ first miracle,  the changing of the water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana.  At the request of his mother, He chooses this moment, when the wine has apparently run out, to ‘let his glory be seen’  for the first time and save his host from  embarrassment.  Marriage and wedding feasts, as well as food and wine,  are metaphors often used in Scripture to refer to God's generous plan for our salvation.  Wine in abundance is a symbol of generosity and remains an integral part of many celebrations to this day, but here the abundant best wine comes not at the beginning of the party but at the end, when it seems to have run out altogether.  In the his­tory of Israel, Jesus, the best and most abundantly generous part of God’s plan for our salvation, also came at the end, after a very long period of waiting during which many believed that, like the wine,  God’s patience with his people had run out. But God’s patience is infinite, and He too kept the best wine- his own son-  until last.  We celebrate this at every Eucharist, and we celebrate it still with bread and with wine. As John tells us:’ This was the first of the signs given by Jesus …. and his disciples believed in him’. May we always believe in Him too.