We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.
Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.Help Now >
Like Clay in the Hand of the Potter
FREE Catholic Classes
By Fr. Jonas Abib
Founder Cancao Nova
In the Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 18, a word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. God told him to be off to the potter's house because there He would give Jeremiah His message. Jeremiah went there and saw the potter 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.
He did not use another lump of clay; he did not discard that clay. When he realized there was no way of mending that vase, he simply undid it and started a brand new object. It was even necessary to moisten the clay again, because it was becoming dry. Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are we in the Hand of God! (See Jeremiah 18, 1-6).
First of all, we need to go inside that mould God prepared for us. That means we need to be conformed to that shape and that way of being proper to the Lord, because we are His children and we are consecrated to Him. This is the reason why the Lord needs to purify our clay, taking out little pieces of gravel, clumps of sand and so on. If the clay is not pure and smooth, it will crack and break in the oven because it cannot stand the heat!
Perhaps you have been proud and you have been feeding your vanity. Perhaps you have even been a good preacher who can make people repent, be healed and baptized in the Holy Spirit. Although perhaps all the while you were more concerned with your musical instrument, your beautiful voice and your pride.
As a consequence, you have not been touched in your heart! Dry hard clay cannot be conformed to any new shape; it does not assimilate anything new! That is the reason why sometimes God needs to totally break us! He does not break us because He is mean; He breaks us for love. When that happens, we often rebel against God and the Church and begin questioning everything God had told us before. Though He had to break you, undo you and give you a brand new mould and shape! You will eventually realize that he broke you in good time! Blessed be God because He breaks us in good time, before our clay gets hopelessly hard and dry!
O Lord, break our disappointment and rebellion because we have not yet understood Your Ways!
Contact
Cancao Nova
http://www.cancaonova.net
TX, US
Fr. Jonas Abib - Founder, 817 431-8512
eua@cancaonova.com
Keywords
tribulation, repentance, Jeremiah, Potter
More Catholic PRWire
Showing 1 - 50 of 4,716
A Recession Antidote
Randy Hain
Monaco & The Vatican: Monaco's Grace Kelly Exhibit to Rome--A Review of Monegasque-Holy See Diplomatic History
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
The Why of Jesus' Death: A Pauline Perspective
Jerom Paul
A Royal Betrayal: Catholic Monaco Liberalizes Abortion
Dna. Maria St.Catherine De Grace Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
Embrace every moment as sacred time
Mary Regina Morrell
My Dad
JoMarie Grinkiewicz
Letting go is simple wisdom with divine potential
Mary Regina Morrell
Father Lombardi's Address on Catholic Media
Catholic Online
Pope's Words to Pontifical Latin American College
Catholic Online
Prelate: Genetics Needs a Conscience
Catholic Online
State Aid for Catholic Schools: Help or Hindrance?
Catholic Online
Scorsese Planning Movie on Japanese Martyrs
Catholic Online
2 Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Set Free
Catholic Online
Holy See-Israel Negotiation Moves Forward
Catholic Online
Franchising to Evangelize
Catholic Online
Catholics Decry Anti-Christianity in Israel
Catholic Online
Pope and Gordon Brown Meet About Development Aid
Catholic Online
Pontiff Backs Latin America's Continental Mission
Catholic Online
Cardinal Warns Against Anti-Catholic Education
Catholic Online
Full Circle
Robert Gieb
We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.
Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.Help Now >
Three words to a deeper faith
Paul Sposite
Relections for Lent 2009
chris anthony
Wisdom lies beyond the surface of life
Mary Regina Morrell
World Food Program Director on Lent
Catholic Online
Moral Clarity
DAN SHEA
Pope's Lenten Message for 2009
Catholic Online
A Prayer for Monaco: Remembering the Faith Legacy of Prince Rainier III & Princess Grace and Contemplating the Moral Challenges of Prince Albert II
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe
Keeping a Lid on Permissiveness
Sally Connolly
Glimpse of Me
Sarah Reinhard
The 3 stages of life
Michele Szekely
Sex and the Married Woman
Cheryl Dickow
A Catholic Woman Returns to the Church
Cheryl Dickow
Modernity & Morality
Dan Shea
Just a Minute
Sarah Reinhard
Catholic identity ... triumphant reemergence!
Hugh McNichol
Edging God Out
Paul Sposite
Burying a St. Joseph Statue
Cheryl Dickow
George Bush Speaks on Papal Visit
Catholic Online
Sometimes moving forward means moving the canoe
Mary Regina Morrell
Action Changes Things: Teaching our Kids about Community Service
Lisa Hendey
Easter... A Way of Life
Paul Spoisite
Papal initiative...peace and harmony!
Hugh McNichol
Proclaim the mysteries of the Resurrection!
Hugh McNichol
Jerusalem Patriarch's Easter Message
Catholic Online
Good Friday Sermon of Father Cantalamessa
Catholic Online
Papal Address at the End of the Way of the Cross
Catholic Online
Cardinal Zen's Meditations for Via Crucis
Catholic Online
Interview With Vatican Aide on Jewish-Catholic Relations
Catholic Online
Pope Benedict XVI On the Easter Triduum
Catholic Online
Holy Saturday...anticipation!
Hugh McNichol