20240801 CREATIVE DYNAMISM BETWEEN GRACE AND JUDGMENT
01 August 2024, Thursday, 17th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Jeremiah 18:1-6 |
When the clay goes wrong, the potter starts afresh
The word that was addressed to Jeremiah by the Lord, ‘Get up and make your way down to the potter’s house; there I shall let you hear what I have to say.’ So I went down to the potter’s house; and there he was, working at the wheel. And whenever the vessel he was making came out wrong, as happens with the clay handled by potters, he would start afresh and work it into another vessel, as potters do. Then this word of the Lord was addressed to me, ‘House of Israel, can not I do to you what this potter does? – it is the Lord who speaks. Yes, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so you are in mine, House of Israel.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 145(146):2-6 |
He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God.
or
Alleluia!
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
I will praise the Lord all my days,
make music to my God while I live.
He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God.
or
Alleluia!
Put no trust in princes,
In mortal men in whom there is no help.
Take their breath, they return to clay
and their plans that day come to nothing.
He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God.
or
Alleluia!
He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who alone made heaven and earth,
the seas and all they contain.
He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Jn15:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 13:47-53 |
The fishermen collect the good fish and throw away those that are no use
Jesus said to the crowds: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings in a haul of all kinds. When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that are no use. This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the just to throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.
‘Have you understood all this?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ And he said to them, ‘Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old.’
When Jesus had finished these parables he left the district.
CREATIVE DYNAMISM BETWEEN GRACE AND JUDGMENT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [JER 18:1-6; MT 13:47-53]
In the gospel, the parable of the dragnet speaks of the final judgment that is to come. At first read, it sounds negative and puts fear into our hearts. “When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that are no use. This is how it will be at the end of time; the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the just to throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” Whilst judgment at the end of time is inevitable, yet the parable of the dragnet speaks of the mercy and patience of God, even as it warns of the consequences of not responding to the grace of God. He is patient with us in our growth. He waits until the opportune time. Until then, we still have time to remould ourselves in His likeness, becoming more like Him. This is the encouraging aspect of this parable, giving us hope and time to repent.
This creative dynamism between God’s mercy and the inevitable judgment is also underscored in today’s first reading. The Lord invited Jeremiah to go to the potter’s house. He saw the potter working at the wheel. “And whenever the vessel he was making came out wrong, as happens with the clay handled by potters, he would start afresh and work it into another vessel, as potters do.” What he saw was the message the Lord intended Jeremiah to speak. For the Lord said, “‘House of Israel, cannot I do to you what this potter does? Yes, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so you are in mine, House of Israel.” The primary message is clear; God has the sovereignty to do what He wills. God has supreme authority over us.
We are the clay and He is the potter. He decides how we are called in life. Our vocation, our status, our health and our life are decided by Him. We are the sheep of His flock. We must never imagine that we are in total control of our lives. For this reason, we must allow God to mould us and to shape us to become who we are meant to be. God gives us all the necessary graces for us to attain self-fulfilment and self-realization. Each one of us is called to a different destiny. There is no point comparing ourselves with the position, fortunes or misfortunes, advantages or disadvantages of others. As the Lord said, each one of us must carry his or her own cross to follow Him. (Mt 16:24) Or in the parable of the Talents, each one is given different talents for different reasons. (Mt 25:14-30) St Paul wrote, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.” (1 Cor 12:5-7,11)
Unfortunately, some of us, like the Israelites, want to have things our way. We want to shape ourselves according to what we like and often what the world likes. We prefer to listen to the world than to the Word of God. We take directions from the world instead of seeking the will and wisdom of God as to how we should live our lives. In other words, we want to be our own potter. We want to supplant the authority of God. We forget that we are the clay from which we were given the Spirit of God and therefore become a human person. Like Adam, we belong to the earth and as the liturgy of Ash Wednesday reminds us, unto dust we shall return. But because we have been gifted with an immortal soul and a share in God’s spirit, our ultimate destiny is to be with God. However, that is provided we are faithful to our calling in life and faithful to the will of God for us.
Yet, in spite of our imperfections, everything is not lost. God is always merciful. God knows that we are fallen creatures. He gives us opportunities to mend our lives. Just like the potter, when the clay did not turn out to be that perfect pot, he would start afresh and work it into another vessel. In other words, we are still in the making. God has not done with us yet. Like the potter, God recreates us anew. He wants to perfect us in His image. Even when we fail, it does not mean the end of us. We are given chances to reform. This is made possible in Christ. “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.” (2 Cor 5:17-19)
Indeed, the responsorial psalm urges us not to rely on the world or even our own powers. “Put no trust in princes, in mortal men in whom there is no help. Take their breath, they return to clay and their plans that day come to nothing. He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who alone made heaven and earth, the seas and all they contain.” We must rely on God who makes all things new. “God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” (Eph 2: 4,5, 8-10)
Consequently, for us Christians, the Lord invites us to be “like a householder who brings out of his storeroom things both new and old.” He said this at the end of His long discourse on the Sermon on the Mount and the Kingdom of God. If we were to appreciate how Jesus is the One who can reshape us according to God’s plan for us, we must see His message in continuity with the Old Testament. As St Matthew insisted, Jesus did not come to do away with the Torah. On the contrary, He said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.” (Mt 5:17f) What Jesus has done is to prefect the way the laws are fulfilled by teaching us to fulfil them according to the right spirit. As He warned us, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:20)
Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament. St Matthew took pains to cite Old Testament scripture texts in his gospel – more than sixty times, sometimes out of context even – to show that Jesus is the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Old Testament. Besides the direct quotes, there were many allusions as well. For Matthew, writing to his Jewish audience, it was important to insist on the continuity of Jesus from Moses. So too for Luke, even though he was writing to the Gentiles. At the end of the gospel, Jesus reprimanded His ignorant and doubting disciples, saying, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.” (Lk 24:25-27)
Consequently, for us to be good disciples of the Kingdom of God, we too must bring out of our storeroom the old and the new. Not all things, teachings, practices and traditions of the Church are to be discarded. Some things require change; some teachings need to be applied in a new way, some practices require adaptation and some traditions need to be abandoned and new ones incorporated. To make progress for the church and for ourselves in the faith, we need to be receptive to both the old and the new. We cannot fossilize our faith, otherwise it will not be a living faith. But before we discard or change some of these traditions and practices, we must not throw the baby out of the bathtub with the water. Our mistakes and sins should not prevent us from renewing ourselves. Rather, we should see them as moments of grace when God wants us to humble ourselves and depend on Him instead.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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