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Ave Maria!
Thank you Father Angelo…
your answers are always exhaustive and kind…
Jesus performs His first miracle at Cana even though it wasn’t yet time for Him to reveal Himself, at the request of the Holy Mother Mary.
From the Gospel, it looks like Jesus replies to Our Lady (I hope the Lord will forgive me if I’m talking nonsense) as if He were annoyed, calling Her “woman” what does that have to do with me and you…
Is it maybe an incorrect translation from Greek? Maybe Jesus’ tone isn’t “mean”, but he wants to say what’s so special between us that, even though it is not the hour, because of the love I have for you, I will still do it? And why does He call Her “woman”? To make clear that the one who’s speaking is God?

I don’t know how to thank you, or maybe I do… I will pray for you, that God blesses you and Our Lady together with Saint Michael the Archangel will protect you…
Thank you
Mario N.
Hail Mary

Dear Mario,
1. it’s not an incorrect translation.
Among the Holy Fathers and the interpreters of Scripture nobody could contest these words “Woman, how does your concern affect me?” (Jn 2:4).
The meaning   reveals indeed some kind of refusal.
Saint Thomas  refers to Saint Augustine and Saint John Chrysostom’s thoughts on the subject.

2. According to the first (Saint Augustine) “Christ has two natures, the divine and the human. And although the same Christ exists in each, nevertheless things appropriate to him according to his human nature are distinct from what is appropriate to him according to his divine nature. Now to perform miracles is appropriate to him according to his divine nature, which he received from the Father; while to suffer is according to his human nature, which he received from his mother. So when his mother requests this miracle, he answers, “Woman, what does that have to do with me and you?” as if saying: I did not receive from you that which enables me to perform miracles, but that which enables me to suffer, i.e., that which makes it appropriate for me to suffer, i.e., I have received  the human nature from you. And so I will recognize you when this weakness hangs on the cross. And so he continues with, “My time has not yet come.” As if to say: I will recognize you as my mother when the time of my passion arrives. And so it was that on the cross he entrusted his mother to the disciple” (see Saint Thomas, Commentary on the Gospel of John 2,4).

3. Saint John Crysostom agrees that it is a refusal, but with a different motivation.
Here it is: “the Blessed Virgin, burning with zeal for the honor of her Son, wanted Christ to perform miracles at once, before it was opportune; but that Christ, being much wiser than his mother, restrained her.
For he was unwilling to perform the miracle before the need for it was known; otherwise, it would have been less appreciated and less credible. And so he says, Woman, what does that have to do with me and you? As if to say: Why  bother me?
“My time has not yet come”, i.e., I am not yet known to those present. Nor do they know that the wine ran out; and they must first know this, because when they know their need they will have a greater appreciation of the benefit they will receive” (see Saint Thomas, Commentary on the Gospel of John 2,4).

4. Either way, according to Saint Thomas “Now although his mother was refused, she did not lose hope in her Son’s mercy. So she instructs the servants, “Do whatever he tells you”, in which, indeed, consists the perfection of all justice. For perfect justice consists in obeying Christ in all things: “We will do all that the Lord commanded us” (Ex 29:35).”
Here, according to Saint Thomas, Our Lady publicly professes Her faith in the divinity of Jesus because only to God we can obey in everything while “man can err now and then. (…) We ought to obey God, who does not err and cannot be deceived, in all things.” (Saint Thomas, Commentary on the Gospel of John 2,5).

5. John Paul II goes further in his Marian catechesis and sees in Jesus’ words, and especially in the word “woman”, the call for Mary to participate in the redemption.
Here’s what he says: “Jesus’ answer to Mary’s words, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:4), appears to express a refusal, as if putting his Mother’s faith to the test.
According to one interpretation, from the moment his mission begins Jesus seems to call into question the natural sonship relation to which his mother refers. The sentence, in the local parlance, is meant to stress a distance between the persons, by excluding a communion of life.
This distance does not preclude respect and esteem; the term “woman” by which he addresses his Mother is used with a nuance that will recur in the conversations with the Canaanite woman (cf. Mt 15:28), the Samaritan woman (cf. Jn 4:21), the adulteress (cf. Jn 8:10) and Mary Magdalene (cf. Jn 20:13), in contexts that show Jesus’ positive relationship with his female interlocutors.
With the expression: “O woman, what have you to do with me?”, Jesus intends to put Mary’s co-operation on the level of salvation which, by involving her faith and hope, requires her to go beyond her natural role of mother. (…)
Then Mary docilely refrains from insisting with him and instead turns to the servants, telling them to obey him. (…)
It is an exhortation to trust without hesitation, especially when one does not understand the meaning or benefit of what Christ asks.” (02/26/1997).

6. The Jerusalem Bible anticipates in its notes John Paul II’s interpretation.
“-What does that have to do with me and you?: to the letter “what to me and to you?”, Hebrew expression quite frequent in the Old Testament (Jdg 11,12; 2 Sam 16,10; 19,23; 1 Kings 17,18, etc.) and in the New Testament (Mt 8,29; Mk 1,24; 5,7; Lk 4,34; 8,28).
It is used to reject an intervention judged inappropriate or to make clear to someone that one doesn’t want to have any relationship with them.
Only the context allows us to elucidate the exact nuance of meaning. Here, Jesus objects to His mother that “his hour has not yet come”.
– woman: unattested in reference to one’s mother, used again in 19:26 where the meaning lights up as a reference to Gen 3:15-20: Mary is the new Eve, “the mother of all the living”.
– my hour: Jesus’ hour is the hour of His glorification, His return at the right hand of the Father.
The Gospel signals its coming (7,30; 8,20; 12,23.27; 13,1; 17,1). Set by the Father, the hour couldn’t be anticipated. The miracle obtained with Mary’s intervention will however be its symbolic annunciation”.

7. As we have seen, the word “woman” doesn’t express detachment.
Among the Greeks and the Orientals (Homer, Xenophon and others), it was used in the privacy of the home to designate even the dearest people and those most deserving of respect.

8. In conclusion: the expression “What does  that have to do with me and you” is indeed very harsh.
But that is what the Holy Spirit willed in order to help us comprehend the role of Mary who, because of Her faith, has anticipated the moment of the manifestation of Jesus’ divinity with the performing of the miracle and, at the same time, wanted to highlight Mary’s peculiar role in the redemption.

I wish you the best, I recommend you to the Lord and bless you.
Father Angelo