A West Virginia boy sat on a fence at the crossing of two roads.

A man in a large car with New York plates roared to a stop in front of him, rolled down the window and said, “Young man, I’m lost. Can you tell me where this road goes?”

He said, “No, sir, I can’t.”

“Well, can you tell me where that road goes?”

“No sir, I can’t.”

“Well, young man, don’t you know anything?”

The boy said, “I know I’m not lost.”

When you find Christ, you know this: you are not lost.

St. John’s Gospel, as you know, is about seven miracles of Christ beginning with the wedding at Cana.

Mary is mentioned in his Gospel twice; at Cana, at the beginning of his public ministry and at the crucifixion, at the end of it.

At every wedding, usually something goes wrong.

“They have no wine.”

Mary is asking Jesus to fix it.

“Woman, how does your concern affect me? (It’s not my problem.) My hour has not yet come.”

The hour is his crucifixion.

His Mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” Something changed. Mary knew.

For Mary and Jesus, the needs of others come first.

God’s gifts to individuals are meant for the service of others, as St. Paul tells us in the second reading for Jan. 20, when he enumerates the many different gifts of the Holy Spirit to different persons and adds that, “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.”

This to the family of the Church and to individual families: all have gifts to be used for each other.

In life, there are times when the wine runs out in a marriage, or career, or a friendship, or in health.

How does it happen, why? Exhaustion from too much activity, or rigid routines, or neglect; or you don’t see or won’t look at your behavior; the languages of hurting with put downs which become normal, the so-called new-normal-anything (doing whatever you want). You spend more time at work than with family; you take more than you give; everything is about you; sloth, greed, gluttony, envy ...

What do you do? Look around and see if Jesus is there.

Even though you may have ignored him or avoided him for a long time, look around and you will see our Lord, who is always there for you.

It would be wise to tell him, confess to him, that the wine has run out of your life and say to him, “Lord, I need your help.”

Don’t ask if you don’t want to do what needs to be done to change your life, your attitude.

Ask him to help you transform your life, remembering that the days are always ahead. Today should be the best day of your life, then tomorrow.

When you find Christ in your life, do whatever he tells you, and you’ll know you’re not lost.