Learning to Let Go of the Past

Thursday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Jer 18: 1-6; Mt 13: 47-53

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

It is pretty clear in today’s readings, that God doesn’t intend to throw us away the first time we make a mistake, or even the second or third or any other time we make a mistake.  He is relentless in His efforts to reshape us, just like the potter in the first reading.   

God is mostly interested in our Faith in Him, and our resolve to repent and to do better.  It is never too late for us to accept His guiding hand as long as we have life in us.   

Let me pause and pose this question.  Just what is God trying to fashion with your clay these days?  Perhaps you had a vision of what that was going to be some time ago; and you think you have been cooperating with God.  But somehow things have changed, and now you feel conflicted.  More likely, perhaps an old dream, an old image, just doesn’t fit the mold any more. 

Let me give a few examples.  People get married, and assume that God is shaping them to raise a family.  But divorce and death happen sometimes in these families; and then later on in life, the children are gone and you are an “empty nester”.  And then, some people pursue certain paths in life but then they find them interrupted by illnesses or overwhelming responsibilities forced on them, like caring for elderly parents or grandchildren.   When those things happen to you, are you still trying to shape yourself into that first image?  Or are you open to a newer one; the one that God is working on for you now?  I think it is important for us to ponder that because what was good for you a decade ago or even a year ago, is not necessarily good for you now.  God may be shaping you for something else.   

In the Gospel, we heard the parable of the fish.  Jesus explains that at the end of the age, angels will separate the bad from the good.  Indeed, we coexist with the evil in this world, and we always will.  And the environment we live in will be affected by that evil every now and then, causing us to adapt to the changing environment to survive.  Things like death, illnesses, and separation happen to all of us.  Some things are caused by the evil in the world; but others are just due to the passage of time.   

It can be a mistake not to respond to a call to adapt to these things.  And even though that shakes us out of a comfort zone, it may be that something more wonderful lies at the other end if we trust in God and let Him reshape us.   

Jesus says something very interesting at the end of the Gospel.  He says “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old”.  For weeks now, you have heard gospel parables on the Kingdom of God.  You have been instructed.  But you need to respond to both the new and the old.  Let the heavenly potter shape you accordingly. 

Tags:

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.