Images of clay, fish, new, and old

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today offer images of clay and fish as entry ways into contemplation of the truths presented about God and our relationship to the Divine.



The Prophet Jeremiah witnesses a potter working and re-working objects made of clay and reflects on how this applies to the Creator working with the people of the Covenant.

* [18:1–12] The lesson of the potter is that God has the power to destroy or restore, changing his plans accordingly as these nations disobey him or fulfill his will. Cf. Jon 3:10.

In the Gospel from Matthew, Jesus shares another parable of the final judgement and alerts teachers to the wisdom to be found in old and new Covenants.

* [13:52] Since Matthew tends to identify the disciples and the Twelve (see note on Mt 10:1), this saying about the Christian scribe cannot be taken as applicable to all who accept the message of Jesus. While the Twelve are in many ways representative of all who believe in him, they are also distinguished from them in certain respects. The church of Matthew has leaders among whom are a group designated as “scribes” (Mt 23:34). Like the scribes of Israel, they are teachers. It is the Twelve and these their later counterparts to whom this verse applies. The scribe…instructed in the kingdom of heaven knows both the teaching of Jesus (the new) and the law and prophets (the old) and provides in his own teaching both the new and the old as interpreted and fulfilled by the new. On the translation head of a household (for the same Greek word translated householder in Mt 13:27), see note on Mt 24:45–51.

George Butterfield notes that today there are two powerful images that are used to describe humans and God. We are like clay and fish. God is like a potter and a fisherman. Our selection of appropriate learning material may be limited by our prejudice.

I believe that the message is that Israel has become like a pot that turned out badly but that God can still take the nation and turn it into something that pleases him. It is not too late for Israel and what would please God is a nation where righteousness and justice prevails...There is a difference between fish and humans, however, in that a fish doesn't choose to be good or bad whereas a human can choose to be wicked or righteous. This is not to say that we can be righteous through our own works and merits but what it says is that we have chosen to walk on the path of righteousness, the path that leads to everlasting life. In this regard we choose what type of fish we will be...We had become snobs; nothing written before the Age of Enlightenment could possibly be any good. Of course, we have seen the reverse type of snobbery, too; anything younger than the Council of Trent cannot be any good. No, there is both the new and the old in a trained scribe's storeroom, one who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven.

Don Schwager quotes Cyril of Alexandria (375-444 AD) writing about a scribe who is trained for the kingdom of heaven.

"A scribe is one who, through continual reading of the Old and New Testaments, has laid up for himself a storehouse of knowledge. Thus Christ blesses those who have gathered in themselves the education both of the law and of the gospel, so as to 'bring forth from their treasure things both new and old.' And Christ compares such people with a scribe, just as in another place he says, 'I will send you wise men and scribes' (Matthew 23:34) (excerpt from Fragment 172)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 13:47-53 focuses on spreading the Good News to others.

There seems to be such a short supply of compassion and consideration in the world. So many people are immersed in their problems and challenges. And therein lies our opportunity! Our love and care for other people will stand out. It’s attractive and it’s infectious. So keep casting your nets!

Friar Jude Winkler explains how Jeremiah saw prophecy in the things around us leading him to imagine that God is the Potter. The Gospel of Matthew consists of narrative and five discourses (teachings). It is structured as a new Pentateuch. The image of the net that collects everything and the fisher tosses the bad is a reminder of the final judgement.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, quotes David Benner, a wise teacher, who has been a part of several Christian traditions over the years, including fundamentalism, evangelicalism, and now contemplative Anglicanism on Perennial Wisdom.

1. However named, God is the Ultimate Reality. Language does not serve us well to describe this Ultimate Reality since it is so profoundly supra-human and trans-personal. . . . All names for this foundation of existence point to the same reality—a reality that . . . is both transcendent and immanent, not set apart from the world of humans and things but deeply connected to everything that is. . . .
Ultimate Reality is the source, substance and sustenance of all that is. Nothing exists without it. To be removed from this vital connection would be to instantly cease to exist. We exist because we are in relation to Ultimate Reality, or, more precisely, because we exist within it. . . .
2. The mystics of the Perennial Wisdom Tradition assert that direct, immediate knowing [of Ultimate Reality] is possible. They tell us that such knowing is not based on reason or deduction, but on communion. . . . Knowing is intimate, and this intimacy is transformational. We come to resemble that which we know. . . .
3. There is a place in the depths of [the human] soul in which Ultimate Reality alone can dwell, and within which we dwell in Ultimate Reality. . . .
4. The knowing that humans seek, in every cell of our being, is to know the source and ground of our existence. This, the Perennial Wisdom Tradition teaches, is the goal and meaning of being human. Life has a direction. All of life flows from and returns to Divine Presence. . . . Union with Ultimate Reality is sharing in the divinity of Christ. It is participating in the Divine Presence. This is the fulfillment of humanity. . .

The moral of the Perennial Wisdom Tradition is, “Don’t settle for anything less than the truth of your Christ-self.” The ego-self, with which we are all much more familiar, is a small cramped place when compared with the spaciousness of our true self-in-Christ. This is the self that is not only at one within itself; it is at one with the world, and with all others who share it as their world.

References


(n.d.). Jeremiah, chapter 18 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved August 2, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/18
(n.d.). Matthew, chapter 13 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved August 2, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/13
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved August 2, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 2, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved August 2, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 2, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/