The Wedding at Cana + Blood Transfusion

 As many of you no doubt know, the Wedding at Cana was the site of Jesus’ first recorded miracle. It was there, at a party, where family and friends were gathered together to celebrate a life-generating union, that Jesus began the three-year-long work of revealing the power of God on earth.

But what could this possibly have to do with blood transfusions? Good question.

There are three connections I would like to draw. The first is that Jesus transforms one ordinary substance (water) in another ordinary substance in order to increase joy and save the hosts from embarrassment. Similarly, healthcare providers who are, knowingly or unknowingly, guided by divine inspiration use an ordinary, natural fluid to save lives and increase our joy!

The second connection has to do with connection. At the Wedding in Cana, Jesus affirmed the goodness of familial and friendship bonds among the wedding guests. He affirmed the goodness of connections between people. When we donate blood, we are connected with strangers. This bond is a spiritual one, in which the giver’s anonymous generosity sustains the life of another (due to the anonymous nature of blood donation, face-to-face bonds are rarely a component of transfusion stories).

The third connection between the Wedding at Cana and blood donation has to do with scarcity and abundance. The wedding hosts nearly ran out of wine, just as blood centers often struggle to collect enough blood to meet demand. But through Christ, that scarcity is turned into abundance. When servants from Jesus jugs filled with water, he was able to transform a lack of wine into excess. We are like these servants, who bring the empty vessels of our time (about an hour). When we do, Christ, by the grace-filled miracle of modern technology, is able to turn a blood shortage into abundance.

A final thought: Just as wine grapes are grown from water (God’s natural miracle), our bone marrow stem cells produce the on-going bounty of blood. God has created a natural order in which abundance reigns. We need only follow him.

Further Reading: St. Augustine’s Homilies on the Gospel of John 1-40, Works of St. Augustine. 8.1