No winner yesterday for the lottery here in the USA, which is now worth one billion dollars, however we did score a win today with the two Scripture readings read at mass today.
First it was the reading from the Prophet Jeremiah and God telling him to go to the potter’s house and there find a message from God. The potter, who was working with clay, was not happy with what his hands were shaping. He could have quit but instead he continued until what he made was to his liking. It was then that Jeremiah heard God’s voice. “Can I not do for you as the potter has done?”
Is this not what many of us are seeking? To have God in our lives, to have His help, allow Him to shape us, guide us; to hear Him say, like clay in the hands of the potter, you are in My hands.
And yet we know that there have been instances when we chose not to allow God to shape us. We forget we hold “a treasure not made of gold in earthen vessels.” We forget that God has a wealth of treasures waiting to be discovered and probed.
We dug one up when we investigated the message that awaited us once we visited the potter. We heard God tell us He is prepared to do for us what a potter does: shape and mold us into a work of art.
Matthew’s gospel also contained a treasure of another kind. When I heard the story of the fishermen’s net that was cast far and wide and allowed to collect all kinds of things, I was reminded of my visit to the Holy Cross Brothers in Ghana, sitting on the porch of the school, facing the ocean and listening to the chant of fishermen as they gradually hauled in the net that had been cast days earlier. It was slow, tedious, hard work. There was a huge haul and yes sorting, disposing of what was useless and keeping what was good.
The net collected fish of every kind - a reminder of the faith community that we are all a part of. It is a mixed bag. The good news is that we are all the work of God and await the hand of the Artist who will haul us all in and alone will do the sorting.
He may even take a cue from a fisherman who fished a monster fish that was inedible and ugly but rather than destroy it, fed it a lobster, and threw it back into the sea.
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