The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today contain images that invite contemplation of ways we might seek reforming as we prepare to act as agents of Jesus in our troubled environment.
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| Reform the environment |
The reading from the Prophet Jeremiah describes the work of the Potter with the clay.
* [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 3:10.1
Psalm 146 is praise for God’s help.
* [Psalm 146] A hymn of someone who has learned there is no other source of strength except the merciful God. Only God, not mortal human beings (Ps 146:3–4), can help vulnerable and oppressed people (Ps 146:5–9). The first of the five hymns that conclude the Psalter.2
In the Gospel of Matthew, “fish of every kind” make up the Church with whom treasures new and old are shared by scribes.
* [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 24:45–51.3
Beth Samson shares that the first reading gives her great hope, especially in these days. After the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor in the United States, our collective consciousness, particularly for white people like her, has finally taken seriously the cry of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in their experiences of racism and racial inequity.
Taking seriously the benefits I gain from systems set up to more easily allow me to succeed and the role I play in racism – both consciously and unconsciously – has shown me that my vessel’s walls have caved in. What I am being shaped into is not always open to receiving the light, love, and gift that each person, created in the image of God, has to offer. So, I am being reworked, just like “the clay in the hand of the potter.4
Don Schwager quotes “A scribe who is trained for the kingdom of heaven,” by Cyril of Alexandria (375-444 AD).
"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)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Jeremiah 18:1-6 asks does God’s anguish over Israel sound familiar? Every parent, sibling, or spouse—likely each of us—has felt something similar. We want a loved one to change. We see all they could become if only they would turn to God more deeply. Yet even in their messiness, we see the beautiful person they already are and how much God loves them.
The good news is that God is still the Divine Potter, and the way he felt about Israel is the way he feels about each of his children. No one is off his radar.
What a comfort! This means that if you’ve been praying for someone to come to the Lord for what seems like a long time, you can trust that the Divine Potter is at work. Don’t give up. When you feel weary or tempted to discouragement, turn to the Lord. Try praying an honest, simple prayer: “Jesus, you know what will move this person forward. Open their heart.” Finally, keep asking him for strength for yourself—mental, physical, and emotional. He wants to help you to endure and persevere. Remember, he waited a long time for Israel, so he knows what it’s like!6
Friar Jude Winkler reflects on the image of the Potter’s house where the poor work is discarded. The fish rejected in the Gospel represent the final judgement. Friar Jude notes Jesus' advice about old and new would not be usual in His Jewish world.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that peaceful change starts within us and grows incrementally from where we are. Our social and physical location will influence the problems we see and the solutions we can imagine. We must “think globally and act locally” as did Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Wangari Maathai (1940–2011), who devoted herself to environmental and democratic reform in her native Kenya.
It is 30 years since we started this work. Activities that devastate the environment and societies continue unabated. Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own—indeed, to embrace the whole creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder. This will happen if we see the need to revive our sense of belonging to a larger family of life, with which we have shared our evolutionary process.
In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other.
That time is now.7
The ongoing reforming of our relationship to God and others draws us to greater alignment with God’s plan for our society.
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