Open to Being Reformed

 The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to assess our journey with openness to accept the need for some modification of our path to better shape our faith, hope, and love.

Shaped by the Potter

The Reading from the Prophet Jeremiah presents The Potter’s Vessel.

* [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. (Jeremiah, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 146 declares there is no other source of strength except the merciful God.

* [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. (Psalms, PSALM 146 |USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus offers More Parables that assess Treasures New and Old.

* [13:51] Matthew typically speaks of the understanding of the disciples.

* [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. (Matthew, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB, n.d.)

Tamora Whitney comments that, in the Gospel, Jesus says at the end times the good will be separated from the bad.

There is no salvation in trusting in princes. Men cannot give salvation, and bad men will lead others astray. Faith and hope in the Lord is the road to salvation. The bad fish are cast aside like the bad pots, and the bad people will be cast into hell. But the good fish are kept like the good pots and the good people will see the wonders of heaven. “Put not your trust in princes, in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation…Blessed he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD, his God.”

The world seems like a mess now, like a mixed pile of fish from the net, but it will all be sorted out in the end, good and bad in the next world. (Whitney, 2026)

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) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler reflects that Jeremiah uses a symbolic action at the house of the potter where the pots are smashed and reformed if they are not turning out to the satisfaction of the potter. God is a Potter. Those who turn out poorly will be smashed. In the Gospel of Matthew, one of the parables of the Kingdom presents the idea that trash fish are thrown out and good fish kept. God is very merciful, but Matthew asserts the reality of a final accounting. Friar Jude urges us to use whatever is useful and learn from other religious communities about mission and hospitality in related faiths. We can learn from both old and new and use almost anything for the sake of the Kingdom.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Jeremiah 18:1-6 comments that through Jeremiah, God tells us that he has both the power and the desire to shape us according to his will. Whether through situations in our lives or through the voice of our consciences, he is constantly working to take whatever is misshapen in us and form it into something new and beautiful.

So today, imagine yourself as soft clay. Let God stretch you and shape you. Trust the hands that hold you. The potter is patient, and his vision for your life is more beautiful than anything you could form alone.

“Lord, help me to keep my heart soft so that it can become something beautiful in your hands.” (Meditation on Jeremiah 18:1-6, n.d.)

Father Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Indigenous theologian Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley who considers Jesus’s criticism of certain religious leaders in his day and how they interpreted Scripture. Anytime we use our sacred writings to justify acts of exclusion, rejection, and hegemony we are neglecting justice, mercy, and love. By doing so, we deploy our holy scriptures to do more harm than good, causing us to fall into the same hypocrisy that Jesus condemned….

I understand the dilemma well. Growing up evangelical, I was indoctrinated to accept every single word of the Bible as literal truth, no matter how troubling or contradictory it seemed…. What strikes me as deeply ironic is that most Jewish communities—the very people whose ancestors wrote much of these texts—don’t embrace this rigid fundamentalism that many Christians do. In Jewish tradition, questioning and wrestling with multiple interpretations through midrash isn’t just permitted—it’s essential. They understand what many Christians miss, that sacred texts demand thoughtful engagement, not naïve acceptance. (Rohr, n.d.)

The reforming of our lives by the fire of the Love of the Spirit is our invitation to be more fully alive in our environment as living vessels of faith, hope, and love for all.

References

Jeremiah, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved July 30, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/18? 

Matthew, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved July 30, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/13?47 

Meditation on Jeremiah 18:1-6. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved July 30, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/07/30/1635280/ 

Psalms, PSALM 146 |USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved July 30, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/146?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Reading for Justice, Mercy, and Love. Retrieved July 30, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/reading-for-justice-mercy-and-love/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Trained for the Kingdom of Heaven. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved July 30, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Whitney, T. (2026, July 30). Daily Reflection July 30, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved July 30, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-july-30-2026 

Experiencing Transformation

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to seek the transformation offered by the Divine Potter to integrate our life experience of loss and love as the foundation of living our fullest existence.

Shaping Full Life

The reading from the Prophet Jeremiah presents the lesson of the Potter and 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. (Jeremiah, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 146 offers 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. (Psalms, PSALM 146 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches about Treasures New and Old.

* [13:44–50] The concluding parable of the fishnet resembles the explanation of the parable of the weeds with its stress upon the final exclusion of evil persons from the kingdom.

* [13:44] In the unsettled conditions of Palestine in Jesus’ time, it was not unusual to guard valuables by burying them in the ground.

* [13:51] Matthew typically speaks of the understanding of the disciples.

* [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. (Matthew, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB, n.d.)

Suzanne Braddock considers the words of Robert Ellsberg, who writes the “Blessed Among Us” feature in the Give Us This Day series, St. Alphonsus Liguori maintained that " the moral life was not a matter of tortured or legalistic compliance with the law. It was essentially the life of love.” 

I wonder how many times God has tried again and again to mold me into something pleasing to him? Like the householder with his storeroom who brings out both the old and the new, I wonder what I have in my storeroom of memories and past deeds. What is old? What do I hang onto and have trouble releasing, bringing out? What can I bring out that is new? What do I look forward to on my path toward growth in love for others and union with God? Do I see the setbacks and troubles of my life as God’s opportunities to lead me to a life of love? (Braddock, n.d.)

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) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Jeremiah 18:1-6 comments that just as the potter kept working with his clay, so God would not give up on Jerusalem. Even after all their sin, he would continue molding them. He would keep loving them, consoling them, teaching them, and even rebuking them when they needed it.

What an encouraging vision! What extraordinarily good news! God loves you too much to give up on you. He loves you so much that he didn’t even spare his only Son to save you. All he asks is that you become like clay in his hands: softhearted, willing to be molded, submitting to him as much as you can. So accept him as the potter and give him permission to shape your life as he sees fit. Try your best to obey him so that you can become a beautiful vessel in his hands.

“Here I am, Lord! Mold me and shape me according to your perfect will!” (Meditation on Jeremiah 18:1-6, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that the symbolic action at the Potter’s House indicates that God addresses what does not work by reforming people and nations when they diverge from His Ways. The Gospel of Matthew underlines there will be an accounting that separates the bad and the good. Friar Jude reminds us of the tension in our times that tries to separate the traditional Church and the Church of today in opposition to the mission of the wise scribe to use both old and new.

 

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, emphasizes how community is at the heart of the reign of God. God’s reign is about union and communion, which means that it’s also about mercy, forgiveness, nonviolence, letting go, solidarity, service, and lives of love, patience, and simplicity. Who can doubt that this is the sum and substance of Jesus’ teaching? In the reign of God, the very motives for rivalry, greed, and violence have been destroyed. We know we’re all part of God’s beloved community. [1]  Palestinian Anglican priest Naim Ateek emphasizes Jesus’ call to community and peacemaking:

Jesus called into community a small group of people. They were his disciples and friends. He taught them the essence of faith—the love of God and the love of neighbor—and he became a role model to them. When they asked him to teach them to pray, he taught them to pray for the coming of God’s kingdom: “Your kingdom come, your will be done.” If you want to be children of God, he said, you need to be engaged in peacemaking; if you want to imitate God and be God’s children, you have to love your enemies and to pray for those that persecute you. If you want to resist evil, do not use evil methods. You have to practice forgiveness and reconciliation. You must be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. [2] (Rohr, n.d.)

We are aware of tension in our society and politics that often places old and new, conservative and progressive, in fierce opposition. We invoke the Spirit of Wisdom to guide our transformation to being scribes of Christ, grateful to the Father for blessings old and new.

References

Braddock, S. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. OnlineMinistries. Retrieved August 1, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/080124.html 

Jeremiah, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 1, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/18? 

Matthew, CHAPTER 13 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 1, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/13? 

Meditation on Jeremiah 18:1-6. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved August 1, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/08/01/1037017/ 

Psalms, PSALM 146 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 1, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/146? 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. An Attractive Alternative. Retrieved August 1, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/an-attractive-alternative/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 1, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=aug1 

Transformation and Tension

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with the Penitential Pilgrimage of Pope Francis in Canada as we contemplate the power of the Spirit to transform our shattered state into vessels that reflect the Love of our Creator.

Things Old and New

The reading from the Prophet Jeremiah describes the action of the Potter and 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. (Jeremiah, CHAPTER 18, n.d.)

Psalm 146 praises 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. (Psalms, PSALM 146, n.d.)

The Gospel of Matthew describes scribes that reveal treasures both new and old.

* [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. (Matthew, n.d.)

David Crawford finds Jeremiah encouraging.  A potter looks at a misshapen lump of clay and envisions a beautiful, useful finished product.  God looks at each of us with a potter’s eye and sees potential.  Still better, we – sinners all – are imperfect and often damaged goods, but our Potter repairs and uplifts us so we can serve again.  Thanks be to God!

We shouldn’t view our usefulness as a one-time event, either.  We are all works in progress, with God using and repurposing us as we see fit – and this happens as long as we are on earth.  A dear octogenarian friend used to get frustrated by people who would claim that they were too old or had already made their contributions.  She would tell them, “If you’re still alive, it’s because God still has a use for you.” (Crawford, n.d.)

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) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Jeremiah 18:1-6 comments that each of us is on a journey of faith, and along the way, we all have numerous opportunities to be changed, molded, and formed by the Lord. Just as the potter shapes the clay into something beautiful, God longs to shape us into vessels that reveal his glory and love. If we let him, he can make up all that is lacking in our lives. He can help us grow in virtue and put away sin. Just like pottery that is hand turned, each of us is a unique creation. Each of us reveals God’s handiwork in a new and different way.

Don’t you find it very encouraging to know that God hasn’t given up on you? Even if it feels as if you’ve taken far too many turns on the potter’s wheel, know this: your heavenly Father is committed to making you into the strongest, the most beautiful, and the most useful vessel possible. Know this as well: it’s hard to see, as you’re spinning around on that wheel, just how beautiful you have already become. You may not see it, but God does. And so do many of the people in your life!

“Father, I am so grateful that you love me so much! Keep shaping and forming me so that I can reflect your glory to the world.” (Meditation on Jeremiah 18:1-6, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the message to Jeremiah that even though God gave birth to Israel, He would choose another people. The separation of good and bad by the fisherman points to a final accounting. Friar Jude notes the contrast between Jewish tendency not to mix new and old and Jesus' challenge to risk something good for the future.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces retreat leader and journalist Judith Valente who writes of the importance of listening in Benedictine spirituality.

Listening cracks open the door to another Benedictine concept from which most of us would rather run,—that of obedience. . . . Obedience comes from the Latin, oboedire, to give ear, to harken, to listen. The Benedictine writer Esther de Waal says that obedience moves us from our “contemporary obsession with the self,” [1] and inclines us toward others. . . . . [St. Benedict] moves beyond the common understanding of the word as solely an authoritarian, top-down dynamic. He stresses instead mutual obedience, a horizontal relationship where careful listening and consideration is due to each member of the community from each member, as brothers and sisters. It is by this way of obedience, he says, that we go to God. [2] (Rohr, n.d.)

Author Esther de Waal describes how in Benedictine spirituality there is an inherent connection between listening and responsive action.

To listen closely, with every fibre of our being, at every moment of the day, is one of the most difficult things in the world, and yet it is essential if we mean to find the God whom we are seeking. If we stop listening to what we find hard to take then, as the Abbot of St. Benoît-sur-Loire puts it in a striking phrase, ‘We’re likely to pass God by without even noticing Him.’ [3] And now it is our obedience which proves that we have been paying close attention. . . . So to obey [in the Benedictine tradition] really means to hear and then act upon what we have heard, or, in other words, to see that the listening achieves its aim. We are not being truly attentive unless we are prepared to act on what we hear. If we hear and do nothing more about it, then the sounds have simply fallen on our ears and it is not apparent that we have actually heard them at all. [4] (Rohr, n.d.)

We express gratitude that Our Father continues to use our experience of the Spirit to reshape our lives to surrender as we listen to echoes of the Will of God.

References

Crawford, D. (n.d.). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved July 28, 2022, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/072822.html 

Jeremiah, CHAPTER 18. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved July 28, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/18?1 

Matthew. (n.d.). Chapter 13. Retrieved July 28, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/13?47 

Meditation on Jeremiah 18:1-6. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved July 28, 2022, from https://wau.org/meditations/2022/07/28/450614/ 

Psalms, PSALM 146. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved July 28, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/146?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). A Listening Heart. Daily Meditations Archive: 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-listening-heart-2-22-07-28/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture ... Retrieved July 28, 2022, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2022&date=jul28