Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Lord offered the prophet Jeremiah vivid images not only to understand the tragedy which results when breaking the covenant made with the Source of Life, but also to understand the hope of restoration. The potter who tirelessly works with the clay again and again manifests the patience of the Lord, whose grace is offered again and again. The potter’s hands are also skilled and effective. Even if the clay does not take shape well at first, the master artisan is able to guide it into proper shape in time.
At times, we can despair not only of the possibility of effecting true change in our societies, but even of the possibility of our own conversion of heart. We sometimes think that we will not be able to do the good which we know we are called to do, because of past habits, or present difficulties. Yet, the Lord never tires of offering hope, of encouraging and calling us again. In fact, the grace of the Lord is effective, if we but allow the Lord to work. Nor does the God of love work in a vacuum. Instead, He shapes us with the hands of the Church, of our families, of our communities, of those who surprise us. In this way, His love joins us more closely to Himself and to all others whom He loves and calls and in whom He is active. May the Lord give us the grace of opening up to His grace, truly hopeful that by His love at work in our lives and our communities, we will be able to do the good to which He calls us.