Thursday in the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time, July 30, 2020

Jeremiah 18:1-6

This word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Rise up, be off to the potter’s house; there I will give you my message. I went down to the potter’s house and there he was, working at the wheel. Whenever the object of clay which he was making turned out badly in his hand, he tried again, making of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased. Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this potter has done? says the Lord. Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.

We continue with reflections on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, whose words are used for the first reading at Mass for the next few days.  

I think one proof of the existence of God is how much sense he makes, how simple his wisdom is.  An example of this is found in the passage that makes up this morning’s first reading.  Speaking through the Prophet, God uses the experience of the potter to explain divine providence, a subject on which thick books and intricate treatises have been written.  Jeremiah tells how, following God’s command, he went down to the potter’s house, “and there he was, working at the wheel.”  Here we see the active and continuous action of God, conserving, forming, directing, correcting.  God reveals himself not as remote and uninterested, but as the One on whom the pot completely depends for its existence, its form, and its purpose.  

“Whenever the object of clay which he was making turned out badly in his hand,” that is, when the “clay” turns rebellious and tries to form itself without reference to the power and desire of the potter, it turns out “badly”.  The potter himself is skilled and is able to form the clay into “whatever shape he pleased”, but he chooses to respect his “material’s” choices.  All the same, he “tries again”, through warnings and promises to make the clay compliant.  The clay is “in the hand” of the potter.  The fingers, thumbs, and palms of the potter’s hands are the people, the places, the circumstances, and the spiritual inspirations which he gives to the vessel as it progresses to its final shape.

“Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this potter has done?”  The Lord reveals that as the potter does with clay, so he does not only with an individual person, but with a society, with a whole nation.  He is able to form it into “whatever sort he pleased”.  But that society or nation must be compliant with God’s law and seek to do his will.  We notice here that God uses the sign of the lpotter”, as if to say, I take much trouble over you.  No exterior or interior cause compels God to take any trouble at all with Israel, but this is what he does, not to benefit himself, but to benefit Israel.  The Lord does not throw the clay aside when it becomes rebellious and use other clay.  He continues to model the clay, working it over and over in his hands.

“Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.”  This strong statement reminds us off our position.  We do not form God, he forms us.  But he will form us if we will be formed by him.  If we do not yield to him it is we who will suffer eternal frustration, not the potter, who does not need the clay for his own infinite happiness.  While we can see the clay as individual humans or as societies or nations, we recall that in this passage, God addresses “Israel”, by which we understand the Church.  Although protected by certain of his promises from the threats of this world, the Church, both leadership and members, must comply with God’s law and inspirations into to properly fulfill the purpose for which she was created.  Toward this end, the Lord Jesus commanded us to pray, “Thy .will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  That is, in the Church on earth as in the court of heaven.