Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Somewhere in the early years of my monastic life, I discovered the potter’s wheel. I had always admired the wonders of the instrument and how such beautiful creations could come from it. I was also aware of the role pottery had in the history of cultures and the evolution of humankind. It was not just an important item of beauty, but also a necessary component in the storage of food, holding quantities of liquid (water, wine, etc.), and even in the cooking of food long before pots and pans. Pottery found a place in the life of Jesus, from the water jugs at the wedding feast at Cana, to the woman at the well who came to draw water and fill her container.

I tried throwing the clay on the wheel several times, trying to center it and fashion it into something, ANYTHING. I learned it was not as easy as I thought. I also found an appreciation for the organist who could play a melody on the foot pedals and make it blend with his hands, which were playing another melody. You see, this wheel I was using wasn’t electric, and I had to pump with my feet to make the wheel go around fast enough to build the clay into something… ANYTHING. This also gave me a greater appreciation of this passage from the prophet Jeremiah. We are like clay in the hands of the potter who is God. He fashions us and gifts us with an abundance of love. If things turn out badly, he can start over. I don’t think God always starts over, however.

He creates something beautiful, but it is never perfect. The weaknesses, the flaws, the chips that occur maybe in the fire of the kiln of life, maybe in the way we live our lives, yet we become those earthen vessels that contain the wonder we are. We are earthen vessels that hold God’s great love. As fragile as we are, nevertheless, there is something priceless about us; indeed, we are both instruments of beauty and practical instruments to be used to build up the kingdom of God on this earth. 

 Reflection by Fr. Martin DeMeulenaere, OSB