Would You Call Your Mama “Woman”?

Dear Catholic Exchange:

Thanks,

Stella

Dear Stella,

Peace in Christ! The scenario at hand is that Jesus, Mary, and the disciples are at a wedding feast and the wine runs out. Mary brings this to her Son’s attention, and He responds, “O, woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). This, especially in the contemporary sense of Jesus’ words, seems harsh.

“Woman,” the designation Jesus employs, was used in ancient Mediterranean cultures as an address to show honor and respect. Jesus uses it again in John 4 when speaking with the woman at the well and again with regard to Mary from the cross (Jn. 20:15). In our culture, to address a lady as “woman” is almost always belittling, whereas “woman” in Jesus’ time signified honor.

There is an important theological reason for Mary being addressed as “woman.” When man fell from grace in the Garden, God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). This is the first messianic prophecy. Mary is the new Eve and the “woman” who bore the One who would put Satan under His feet. The designation of Mary as “woman” was an implicit reference identifying Jesus as the Messiah. Mary as the “woman” is also portrayed in Revelation 12.

Jesus’ statement, “What have you to do with Me?,” is literally translated from the Greek as “what to Me and to thee?” According to A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture (New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1953), this phrase in Biblical usage means “a great or lesser divergence of viewpoints between the two parties concerned” (984). When Jesus spoke these words, He was not giving Mary an outright, dismissive refusal. Rather, He was giving her a qualified refusal by following with, “My hour has not yet come.” In other words, working miracles was directly tied to His Messianic mission, and the time for His public ministry was not yet come.

Finally, Mary’s action in response to the words of Jesus demonstrates that Jesus had not spoken to her in a dismissive tone. Mary turned to the servants and said, “Do whatever He tells you.” Mary understood the reason for Jesus’ qualified refusal, but the course of action to deal with the problem of no wine was still open between them. Mary’s response shows this openness, but she left it in Jesus’ hands. Jesus then followed the course of charitable provision on behalf of the newlyweds. A Jewish wedding feast was a weeklong affair called, from an Aramaic word, “drink-festival,” which follows from a “Rabbinic dictum: ‘where there is no wine, there is no joy’” (Catholic Commentary, 983). Running out of wine at a wedding feast was about the worst thing that could happen. Jesus’ choice to perform His first miracle was an act of charity for the family and, as the Church teaches, a “confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ’s presence” (Catechism, no. 1613).

When placing this passage about the wedding feast at Cana into its cultural and historical context, one can see that Jesus was not speaking disrespectfully to Mary, but rather that both Mary and Jesus were involved in a common form of discourse. When looking into the Biblical context, far from being disrespectful, we see that Jesus is identifying Mary as the New Eve.

I hope this answers your question. If you have further questions on this or would like more information about Catholics United for the Faith, please contact us at 1-800-MY-FAITH (693-2484). Please keep us in your prayers as we endeavor to “support, defend, and advance the efforts of the teaching Church.”

United in the Faith,

David E. Utsler

Information Specialist

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