We are clay in God's hands; He fashions us like a potter.
Rembrandt was a 17th-century Dutch painter. He is still regarded as one of the world's greatest artists. Rembrandt's wife, Saskia, died in the midst of his career. Following her death, he went into a period of deep mourning, in which he didn't paint at all. Eventually, he resumed painting again. When he did, he painted with new power and passion. Some critics suggest that the death of his wife was a turning point in his career. It transformed him into an outstanding artist. Rembrandt's story illustrates how God can use tragedy to fashion us into something better than we originally were.
***
Do we believe God wants to make something beautiful of us? "It is by those who suffer that the world has been advanced." Leo Tolstoy
***
When a ceramic or clay vessel is broken, it is of no use whatsoever. It ceases to be what it is made for and the only thing left to do is to discard it. But when it is first shaped and made, it was meant to be of service and to be used for what it is used for.
It is like what we read in the 1st reading, the potter shapes the clay into the required shape and heat it at high temperatures that lead to permanent changes including increasing its strength and hardening and setting its shape. But just as in the turns and tumbles of life, clay vessels get cracked and broken and they are rendered useless and hence discarded.
The gospel parable also talks about discarding the catch of fish that are of no use. But that is the imagery of the end of time.
Meanwhile, what is there for those people who are cracked and broken? We must remember that Jesus came for them. He came for sinners.
The Japanese have a centuries-old art of fixing broken pottery with a special lacquer of powdered gold, silver or platinum. The cracks or breaks are seamed together beautifully with the lacquer, giving the once cracked and broken pottery a special and unique appearance. We can learn something from that. And then we can understand why Jesus is called Saviour.
***
Jeremiah looks at the work of a potter. If the potter sees his work is misshapen, he destroys it and tries anew. God’s people are clay in God’s hands. If they are not faithful, God will break them, but when they are converted, he tries again with them, and they become precious.
The parable about the net full of fish, good and bad, is very close to the parable heard a few days ago about the wheat and the weeds. It ends with the statement that the scribe in the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new, and what is old. Jesus came “not to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to complete them.” Therefore, the disciple, when he welcomes what is new, does not reject what is old. He treasures both.
***
Opening Prayer
Faithful God of tenderness and mercy, you want us to be your people on the march with Jesus your Son toward the new future of justice and love of your kingdom. Do not allow us to suffocate in being contented with old habits and sluggish ways. Help us to accept the pain of leaving the familiar behind us and open us to today’s challenge of the gospel to become more like your Son who guides our faltering steps, Jesus Christ our Lord.
***
About 431, Peter, a deacon, became bishop of Ravenna, Italy. Many Christians in his diocese were following false teachings and living by values that were not Christian. Peter became known as an outstanding preacher. He also preached to catechumens preparing for Baptism. At the bishops’ meeting in Constantinople in 448, Eutyches, a false teacher, denied that Jesus was both God and man. When the bishops refused Eutyches the right to teach his false ideas, he went to Peter for help. But Peter said, “In the interest of peace and the faith we cannot judge in matters of faith without the consent of the Roman bishop [the pope].”
Peter Chrysologus believed that Christians should acquire knowledge to support the Christian faith. He encouraged education as a God-given opportunity and obligation. About 450, Peter died where he had been born: Imola, Italy. Thirteen centuries later, Pope Benedict XIII declared him a Doctor of the Church because of his homilies.
