If you see something, say something. That advice is frequently heard since terrorism remains a horrible possibility. We are urged to be aware of our surroundings, to take note of suspicious individuals, odd behavior, and unattended packages, and to say something to the police if any situation doesn’t seem quite right.

 

If you see something, say something also applies to other circumstances. For example, if we see a little child alone in a car, notice that an elderly neighbor has not left home for several days, or see an electric wire dangling above the ground, we should immediately say something to the proper authorities.

 

Responsible people speak up when they notice a problem. They do not ignore the situation, hoping that someone else might act.

 

This Sunday's Gospel reading (John 2:1-11) may lead us to conclude that Mary was a person who spoke up when she saw something.

 

We are told that Mary, along with Jesus and his disciples, had been invited to a wedding feast in Cana. During the celebration, Mary must have noticed that something was not quite right. Perhaps she saw the head waiter speaking excitedly to the bride and groom or noticed that the amount of wine being served kept getting smaller and then stopped all together.

 

Mary saw something, so she said something. She told her son, “They have no wine.” Jesus’ initial response was that the situation was not his concern.

 

Jesus may have hesitated to act since he did not want to reveal his power at that time. As he told Mary, “My hour has not yet come.”

 

Or perhaps Jesus did not want one of his first miracles (in fact, it is the first miracle in the Gospel of John) to involve providing wine for a party. After all, religious people like his cousin, John the Baptist, often abstained from wine and strong drink (Luke 1:15).

 

But Mary persisted, and Jesus acted. He changed some 120 to 180 gallons of water into wine. Jesus may have responded in a most generous way not only to save the bride and groom from embarrassment, but also to allow the guests to take some wine home. At the time of Jesus, wine was not only for celebration, but it was also a common source of hydration and nourishment.

 

Just as Mary said something because she saw something, we are encouraged to do likewise in our daily lives. It is also what we do when we gather for Sunday Mass. After we profess our faith, we come to the General Intercessions also known as the Universal Prayer.

 

In the intercessions, we bring the hurting people and the problem situations we see, and we say something about them to the Lord. In voicing those petitions, we ask the Lord to do something so that wars end, evil is overcome by good, the needs of the poor are satisfied, the sick recover, and the Church more effectively proclaims the Gospel.

 

In seeing those needs and saying something about them to the Lord, we are also reminded that as Christians, we are the people that the Lord often uses to bring about an answer to our intercessions.

 

Because Mary saw something and said something, a miracle took place at Cana. May the example of Mary inspire us to see the needs in our world and to say something about them to the Lord. If you see something, say something!

 

© 2025 Rev. Thomas Iwanowski