August 1, Thursday, 17th Week in Ordinary Time
Before I became a full-time missionary, I worked for an international dinnerware ceramic manufacturing company. The main ingredient of a ceramic piece is clay. Through the simple images of pottery and fishnets, today’s readings help us understand God’s mysterious and hidden ways as we navigate through the many problems and weaknesses in our lives.
Let me focus our reflection on the first reading which I can easily relate to because of my previous work experience. Here God sends the Prophet Jeremiah to the potter’s house. He wants the prophet to first see how clay is shaped, then he gives him the spiritual meaning of what he sees. It is quite simple: God is like a potter, forming objects out of clay, and we are like the clay in his hands. Just as the potter shapes the clay into whatever he wants to make from it, so God shapes us into the image of his Son Jesus. The responsibility of the clay is to remain pliable in the hands of the potter, so that it accurately takes on whatever shape the potter has in mind.
Our life here in this world is all spent on the potter’s wheel as God shapes us by means of all the people, events, and circumstances of our lives. The crucial difference between us and the clay is that the clay does not have the ability to decide whether to cooperate with the potter or not, while we, because of the free will given to us, have the capacity to choose whether we will cooperate with God’s hands in shaping us into the image and likeness of his Son.
If the clay becomes hard, set in such a way that the potter can no longer shape it, then it can never become the vessel that it was intended to be.
It is only fit to be thrown away. In the Gospel, our Lord warns us of this frightening possibility and at the end of time, those who have refused to be shaped by God will be judged as worthless to be thrown into the fiery furnace. Only those who have allowed themselves to be shaped by God will be saved.
Of course, God’s mercy and compassion are infinite and he always gives us second, third or even countless chances like in Jeremiah 18:4-6, “Whenever the object of clay which he was making turned out badly in his hand, he tried again, making the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased. Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this potter has done? says the Lord. Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.”
My dear brothers and sisters, let us reflect on the following questions: What kind of clay am I in the hands of God? What must I let go of so the Lord can form me into his image and likeness? As we ponder this important lesson, let us believe that every moment in our life is an opportunity for us to be shaped by the divine Potter.
And let us pray … (+)
My dear Lord Jesus, you want me to be like you but there are times when I refuse to cooperate with your grace. Please continue to grant us your mercy and compassion for us to be fully formed according to your image and likeness. Amen. (+)
May God bless our families. May God bless our Catholic faith and CFC! (Rouquel Ponte, CFC Board of Elders)