We have to talk about Jacob because it is, after all, masquerade month. October closes with what we now call Halloween. Time was when this day was known as All Saints’ Eve, or All Hallows’ Eve. Jacob is the guy who let his mom dress him up. She put his...

The first recorded miracle of Jesus happened at a wedding, in Cana near Nazareth, where Christ grew up. Just as the reception reached full swing, the wine ran out, as we read in John 2. Mary turned to her Son for help: “They have no wine,” she said. It was...