Homily- Thursday of the 17th
Week of Ord. Year B. Fr. Udoekpo, M.
v Jer
18:1-6
v Ps
146:1b-2,3-4,5-6ab
v Matt
13:47-53
We Are Clay In God’s Hands- Our Potter!
In today’s first reading, Jeremiah, whom we have been
reading and learning from these past few days, continues to surrender himself
to the Lord, to play God’s mouthpiece, a mediator, a prophet and intercedes for
his people Israel. In a very dramatic fashion today, the Lord commissioned Jeremiah
to proceed to the potter’s house for a first-hand experience of what the potter
does with the clay.
Growing up in a rural African setting, I have personally
experienced first-hand what potters does with clay. She or he molds and remolds
or refashion the clay to whatever, shape or size of a jug, pot, plate etc—so also
is Israel, God’s people in God’s hands. Like a clay in the potter’s hand, so
are we, each of us, in God’s hands (Jer 18:1-6).
The house of Israel, even those who experienced exile (the
gôlāh), must not despair, but hope, trust, remain faithful, obey
the Lord, and surrender themselves into God’s hands. That is why in Jeremiah 29,
as you read on, you would notice Jeremiah would encourage those of them in
diaspora to go out and plant, buy land, marry, practice marketing and carry on with their daily businesses with hope,
In fact, their prayer, and our prayer today(afflicted with this corona-virus),
should be like that of the psalmist heard in Psalm 146 today,’ Blessed is he or
she, whose hope in the Lord, who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is
in them,” (Ps 146).
The Psalmist or say, Jeremiah was for his people what
Christ of today’s Gospel of Matthew, though God and human, was for his people and
disciples: a prophet and a teacher. As Jeremiah and the Psalmist reminded their
people the sovereignty of God, who made heaven and earth, who uses us as his instruments,
Jesus reminded his disciples of the God of the Old and the New, male and female,
Jews and Gentiles. The Kingdom of heaven, he says, is like a net thrown into
the sea to collect all kinds of fish- but with time separates the good from the
bad, the righteous from the wicked.
We, the world, humans and all kinds of creatures are like
a clay in God’s hands, the divine potter! The Lord welcomes us, even sinners,
he gives them time to repent, to return to him. In whatever circumstances we
find ourselves, we are invited to hope, to return to the Lord, to remain
positive and to surrender ourselves into God’s hands, who is truly metaphorically
but truly and divinely our potter, and our maker.
We do this surrendering by worshipping him. We do this by
treating others well, as we would ourselves, want to be treated. We do this by
welcoming others, the old and the young. We do this by placing all our trust in
the Lord. In the face of this virus and other threats we face today, we do
this, by entrusting our nations, families, loved ones, leaders, and scientists
into God’s hands, for wisdom and guidance!
Reflection Questions
1.
Have you ever gone to
see a potter mold a clay into a jug or pot, or use our cultural elements to
communicate Christian faith to others, contextually?
2.
In challenging times
do you remember that we are like a clay in potter’s hands
3.
Are we welcoming to
everyone in our families, old and new, Jews and Gentiles in our religious and
civil communities?
