The WORD in other words (2018) by Fr Abraham Borja SVD – Rome, Italy
Thursday 17th Week in Ordinary Time
One morning, I was in a hurry to go to school. I boarded bus #83. While seated, I noticed a student priest suddenly alighting from the bus and headed left towards another bus stop about 70 meters away. His agility caught my attention. It was then that I turned my glance to the right where I saw bus #30 fast approaching. I immediately alighted from bus #83 and boarded bus #30 as it departed.Thanks to the student priest whose swift movements directed my attention to the arrival of another bus.
In today’s First Reading, the Lord commanded Jeremiah to go to the potter’s house. There, Jeremiah saw an ordinary potter doing his daily job. When the molded clay turned out badly, the potter made another vessel until it became perfect.
The work of a potter is so ordinary and nothing significant can be drawn from it. However, the Lord purposely uses the image of the potter to bring his message to Jeremiah: “Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this potter has done? Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.” Similarly, in the Gospel, Jesus uses the image of an ordinary net to explain what the Kingdom is like.
In many instances, the events we encounter, even those which are most ordinary, can point to something greater beyond our expectations. They can be God’s simple ways of communicating to us. My story about alighting from and boarding buses may be a simplistic way of illustrating this but it was real to me. We need to have attentive eyes, open hearts, and reflective minds to understand the message being conveyed to us.
