First Reading: Jer 18: 1-6; Psalm: 146 R. v. 5a; Gospel: Mt 13:47-53

LIKE CLAY IN THE POTTER’S HAND

BY FR VALENTINE NNAMDI EGBUONU, MSP

“So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was 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” (Jer 18:3-4).

I never quite understood clearly the Prophet Jeremiah’s message on his encounter with the potter until I visited a potter a few years back. It was a very interesting experience to watch the potter mould and reshape the clay with his magical fingers as the potter’s wheel spins. A sizeable quantity of clay on the potter’s wheel can be shaped and reshaped into different items like bowl, plate, pot or vase through the use of the potter’s fingers depending on what the potter is producing and the design he wants. Even when the moulded item crumbles on its own, the potter can reshape it again to come out even more beautiful than before.

This experience made God’s message in Jeremiah 18:1-6 very clear to me. God is the potter and we are the clay. And just like the clay in the potter’s hand, God created and shaped us into who we are. God did this with so much care and attention. So each of us were created out of God’s ingenuity, energy, time, attention and love. What this means is that none of us was a mistake. We are all creatures of God’s intentionality and as such precious in the eyes of God.

But at times in life, something just comes along and just totally messes up our lives. It could something we caused out of our own carelessness or something caused by the choices of other people. Moments like this can be so despairing especially when it has to do with sickness, disappointment, heartbreak, bankruptcy, or some consequences of the life of sin. The consciousness of who we are in the hands of God at these times should revive our hope again. Because no creature of God is too damaged to be repaired or too bad to be loved. God’s work on us is continuous because he knows we are flawed creatures. But our chances of being remoulded again depend on our faithfulness to remain in God’s hands through faith and trust.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY

God our Father, may our trust in you as our creator and God never wither in our moments of crisis. Amen.