HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE SEVENTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II. 30.07.2020.

The Potter and Clay

Readings: Jeremiah 18:1-6; Psalm 146 and Matthew 13:47-53. 

THE POTTER AND THE CLAY: GOD’S PROJECT IN PROGRESS

 

There is a story of an old couple who were interviewed after their seventy-fifth wedding anniversary celebration. The husband was asked, “How were you able to live with your spouse for these years without separation or divorce?” In response he said, “We got married in the era when a clay breaks, we do not throw it away, we fix it and continue to use it, or we convert it to flower-verse and it becomes useful again.” It was an era they do not consider any object useless, something good always comes out of it; and so it is with their marriage, that they always see the good and productive side of each other, which has kept them together. In view of this, the liturgy of today wants us to realize how useful we are in the hands of God; we are his project in progress.

 

In the first reading, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Jeremiah, “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my word.” Going to the potter’s house, God used something practical to teach his prophet on how to relate his message to his people Israel. Going to the potter’s house could be going to the tailor’s workshop or the artist shop in our context. It is a way also to encourage handcraft work, of which waste materials becomes useful again, creativity of the individual creeps in, skills are improved, which practically eradicates unemployment, it boost or enhance the economy among other benefits. Getting to the potter’s house, God communicate his message to Jeremiah, “The vessel the potter was making was spoiled in his hand, and he REWORKED it into another vessel, as it seems good to the potter to do.” When tailors makes mistakes, they do not just throw the materials away, they convert it to something else; same can be said of artist, when they make mistakes, their creativities creeps in to produce something that can express their thought. Nothing is wasted, rather their mistakes or materials are recycled and it becomes pleasant to the eyes and good to us just like the potter who reworked the vessel he was making into another vessel.

 

After this teaching and practical experience in the potter’s house, God present an examination at the end of the class when he said, “O house of Israel, 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.” With the above question, God wants us to realize that he is the Divine Potter and we are the clay, he is the primary creator, from which every man with handcraft work has his or her inspiration as co-creators. As the Divine Potter, he wants us to put our trust in him; He is molding us and has not finished his work on us. We may have our rough time, difficult moment, challenges and setbacks. What we have to do is to put our trust in him and he will ‘rework’ on us again into new vessels. This trust in God is explicit in the song of Paul Eneche, titled: “You are always there.” In it he said, “My life is in your hand, Lord I’m your project in progress, and when you are through with me, all the praise belong to you.”

 

Dear friends in Christ, we are not abandoned projects, we are God’s project in progress, all we need to do is to say ‘yes’ to his question, that he can do more than what the potter has done, for he is the Divine Potter. Placing ourselves in God’s hands is to subject ourselves to his will and when he is through with us, all praise shall be given to him. If we fail to do this, then we shall be sorted out from the useful materials and be thrown into furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth as seen in the gospel. May this not be our lots through Christ our Lord. Amen! Peace be with you!

 

Fr. Ken Dogbo, OSJ