Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 404

Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter,
so are you in my hand, house of Israel.

I have toyed with clay, molding it into small human figures. Although it is wet and cool to the touch, it has the suppleness of human flesh; and arouses a seductive, erotic sensation. I seemed to be creating living persons; they were putty in my hand. 

I recall that exercise when I read Isaiah's prophecy and realize that Christians are, or should be, like clay in the Potter's hands. 

If we've ever needed that pliability, it's today. The old rigidities, reliable if unconscious, no longer serve us very well. In their place we inject the putty of faith like caulking. Without it the window panes rattle and zephyrs of icy air penetrate the spaces of our hearts. 

I no longer understand a lot of things that I see; I cannot categorize or condemn or condone. 

In today's polarized world, many people believe they are their opinions. They believe that we're their enemies if we don't enthusiastically endorse their strange ideas. Saint Augustine (354 – 430 AD), in his controversy with the Donatist, assured them, "Although you will not pray with us, we will pray with you." 

More than a half-century ago, Monsignor (later "Bishop") Sheen urged his television congregation to, "Love the sinner; hate the sin." 

If we would be putty in the Lord's hands we learn to see the image of God in every person regardless of their opinions, attitudes, or behavior. If we're saddened by sin, we're more troubled by our own than theirs. If we're elated by blessings, we're more delighted when they are given to those we might (privately) consider undeserving. 

Saint Paul demonstrated that blessed apatheia, in his Letter to the Philippians, as he reflected on his enemies -- who may have been fellow Christians -- who had conspired to have him arrested and jailed: 

Of course, some preach Christ from envy and rivalry, others from good will. The latter act out of love, aware that I am here for the defense of the gospel; the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not from pure motives, thinking that they will cause me trouble in my imprisonment. 

What difference does it make, as long as in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed? 

And in that I rejoice. Indeed I shall continue to rejoice, for I know that this will result in deliverance for me through your prayers and support from the Spirit of Jesus Christ. My eager expectation and hope is that I shall not be put to shame in any way, but that with all boldness, now as always, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.