Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
Several years ago, I was fortunate enough to visit Murano Island in Italy where I watched the famous glass blowers create beautiful works of art. Glass blowers are very calm and collective as they undertake a process that takes time and patience. I was amazed by the artists’ perseverance, reworking their pieces by remelting the glass until they achieved a better result. Similarly, artists who work with clay know that it is a flexible and forgiving medium. If a mistake is made, the clay is simply wadded up and reworked.
In today’s first reading, the prophet Jeremiah is sent to the potter’s house. Jeremiah watched the potter rework his malformed clay into another more pleasing vessel. In this moment, God spoke to Jeremiah and said, “Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this potter has done? Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand.”
The image of God as potter appears frequently in Scripture. For example, God molded Adam from the clay of the earth and breathed life into him (Genesis 2:7). Human life is God's pottery! How is God the potter at work in our own lives? Do we resist the shaping of God, preferring to be stuck as we are, not accepting a new shape that God has in mind for us? God patiently molds and shapes our lives so that we can become clearer images of Christ to others. Even when we sin, God does not toss us aside and deem us unusable. Rather, when we come to Him in Reconciliation, he offers us forgiveness which molds us into a vessel that can better glorify Him.
In his second letter to Timothy, St. Paul emphasizes our responsibility to cleanse ourselves from our sins, so that we will be vessels for honor. “In a large household there are vessels not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for lofty and others for humble use. If anyone cleanses himself of these things, he will be a vessel for lofty use, dedicated, beneficial to the master of the house, ready for every good work” (2:21). In today’s gospel from Matthew, Jesus delivers a similar message. He compares the Kingdom of heaven to a net thrown into the sea collecting fish of every kind. In the end the good fish will be separated from the bad. Our lives are like the fishing net, it holds both the good and the bad. In our prayer today, we can sit down and sort out the things in our lives. Perhaps we need to let go of the things that are stressful, focus on our family and friendships, and live simpler lives. God, help us to retrieve the things that bring us closer to you, and throw out what does not. Let us glorify you with our lives. Amen.
-Jessica Gabrielli