Seventeenth Thursday in Ordinary Time

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.

We are like clay and God is the potter. He gave us life, shape, and purpose. He has raised us up by His Own Hand and given us a role in His Divine Plan. It is not His fault if we are weak, if we lose our shape, if we waste the gifts and talents He has given us. And if we turn out badly, we should not be surprised when He takes hold of our lives, collapses them, and reforms them. He does this not to destroy or punish us, but to give us another chance to fulfill His Will. He opens new possibilities by closing old and abandoned ones. Yes, it is hard to have our lives shattered by trials and sufferings, but they are given to us for a reason. To help us to become better people. So, when we do suffer, let us not complain, but accept what has happened and reshape our lives in the mold of Jesus Christ who bore his cross so we might be cleansed of our imperfections and remade in the image and likeness of God.

Are we willing to let God reshape our lives? What areas of our lives have become misshapen by sin? How can we learn to keep our eyes open to new possibilities even in the midst of trials?

O Lord, mold us in your image.

Amen.

Thirteenth Saturday of Ordinary Time

No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.

Jesus' teachings were new and as such, they required a fresh start on the part of his disciples. Their old lives couldn't just be patched up. The new commandments Jesus proclaimed required them to cast aside their old lives and put on the life of Christ. Their lives before meeting Christ and after are too incompatible to coexist. Anyone who tries to live the Christ-like life while still clinging to their old passions, desires, and pride will eventually burst and be ruined. The lives Jesus is calling us to live require us to remake ourselves in his image by becoming proper vessels of his love, mercy, and grace. It is only when we do so that we can carry his Good News and truly preserve ourselves and others.

Have we taken Jesus' teachings to heart and transformed our lives? Have we truly remade ourselves in his image? Are we living new and fresh lives in faith and casting aside our old selfish selves?

O Lord, make us new in your love.

Amen.