Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Today's Mass Readings
The image in today’s first reading from the prophet Jeremiah is one of the beloved of the tradition. Here the people of Israel are compared to clay in the hand of the potter. The implication is that God has the ability to shape the people into his liking, molding and remolding them at his will. Two important points stand out from this passage: First, we see that ultimately it is God’s work that makes us what we are. The clay cooperates with the potter, but it is the potter who molds the clay. This indicates a challenging aspect of our faith, namely, being open to God’s working within our community without thinking that we are finally in charge of all that happens to us. Secondly, note that the reference here is to the people Israel and not to individual persons. The emphasis is on God’s shaping of his people as a group.
This second point stands out as a theme throughout the Old Testament. God is constantly trying to guide his people. We might call God’s work with them “pedagogical” because in each step of the story, God tries to teach his people to learn from their mistakes and to move closer in love to God. This comes to fruition in the person of Jesus, God’s incarnate love and paradigmatic pedagogical act.
This person Jesus comes to save, but what does this entail? In today’s gospel passage from Matthew, we hear Jesus describing the kingdom of heaven as a fishing net thrown in the sea. This is one of many in a long string of images for the kingdom, each illustrating a different aspect. This image of the net and the separation of the wicked from the righteous can seem frightening or unfair…our tendency toward relativism wants to say that really all people are good and there are no bad fish. And indeed, all people are called to the good because all people are called to Jesus. Jesus himself knew this, and the analogy reinforces Jesus’ desire for all people to be like the good fish.
Coming back to the image of the people being like clay in the hand of the potter, we see that we are all called to be good fish together. We find support in our community, our tradition, our Church. St. Ignatius Loyola, whose memorial we celebrate today, is founder to the Jesuit order, a group renowned for their work in the mission fields, education, and beyond. Part of Ignatius’ vision was to build a community capable of strengthening the Church in the face of numerous challenges of diverse sources.
Today, try to take some time to reflect on how you are supported in your Christian faith by the people around you and the practices (Mass, prayer, service) that you do with others. How can you support the community more fully and how can you be supported by the community more fully? Let us pray that together we might all be open to God’s shaping us into good fish!
- Maria Morrow