Reflection for
Thursday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time, Year A
(Jer 18: 1-6; Mt
13:47-53)
The Lord sent Jeremiah to the potter’s
house for an important lesson. He saw the potter working at his wheel. “And the
vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked
it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.” The potter had
in mind the design he wanted, if the clay did not come out as he wanted, he
reworked it. Then the Lord spoke to Jeremiah concerning Israel, saying, “Can I
not do with you as this potter has done? Behold, like the clay in the potter’s
hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.”
So, we are like clay in the hands of
God. He created us in His own image and likeness, but the ‘clay’ spoiled due to
sin and selfishness. Now, He decided to rework us into another vessel, which is
Jesus Christ. Yes, He will continue to remould us into the image of His Son
until we fit perfectly into the Original design He had in mind (Rm 8:29).
Imagine the patience, the dexterity and love with which the skilled Potter is
handling our fragile earthen life, carefully transforming us each day into ‘another
Christ.’ So, we carry in ourselves the imprint of the life of Jesus (2Cor
4:10-11). As long as we are alive, God continues to remould us; we must dispose
ourselves in His arms, and cooperate with His grace at all times.
But time will not be with us forever. The
parable of the net that was cast into the sea, which gathered all sorts of things both good and bad, tells us that there will be time to sort out the good from the
bad. At that time, there will not be opportunity to remould our lives. Evil shall be
destroyed as wastes are burned in a fire.
The message of Jeremiah is
encouraging. May be we have failed several times to imitate Jesus. Sometimes it
appears we are stagnant in our spiritual journey. Changing times and
situations, such as health failure, financial crisis, death, etc can becloud
our minds and distract us from our commitment to live like Jesus. God says through
the prophet that He is still working on this fragile Clay. If God is still working,
we should continue to cooperate with Him. Do not give up on yourself; trust in His
grace. At the end of the day, Christ Jesus will be all in all (cf. 1 Cor
15:28).
Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic
Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Thursday July 30th, 2020.
