This idea is very common in the Old Testament. The prophet Jeremiah was one day asked by God to visit the local potter. God wanted to teach something very special to him. Jeremiah did as he as told and he found the potter working at the wheel. The potter would take some clay and with patience he would fashion something useful and practical. However, Jeremiah observed something very interesting. When the finished result was not up to the desired expectation, the potter would not throw the whole thing away. He would start again, until the finished product met his approval. Then God said to Jeremiah. My people are like the clay that the potter uses. I try to fashion them and nurture them so that they could become the people after my own heart. Sometimes they do not turn out according to my desire or plans. However, I will not discard them or throw them away. With patience I will start again until the time comes when I am satisfied with the end result.

This is very consoling because as human beings we make mistakes and often are very limited. However God has created us to continue His work. This is His desire and He will persist with us so that we can reach our potential. However, I believe that we need to keep in mind two very important realities.

In the first place we need to understand that God’s work cannot be done relying solely on our gifts and good qualities. This is God’s work and therefore we need the Spirit of our God to help us on this journey. Our gifts and qualities are great assets. At the same time, they need to be constantly animated and nourished by the promptings of the Holy Spirit who is alive in us through baptism and confirmation.

A classic example is Moses who we read about in the first reading of today. He was the adopted son of the most powerful person at that time: the Pharaoh or King of Egypt. Moses possessed great power and riches. He had the potential to achieve whatever he desired. He knew that he was not an Egyptian. He knew that he was a Jew. He realized how his people were being treated by the Egyptians and he desired to help them. But his fellow Jews rejected him and they did not believe in him. He thought that because of his position he could set his people free. He even resorted to killing as he saw an Egyptian maltreating a Jewish person. He thought that he was above the law and that might was found in power. He failed miserably so much so that he had to flee Egypt and his position and possessions. He was forty years of age.

For the next forty years, he tended sheep for his father in law Jethro. During these forty years, Moses learnt a big lesson. He knew that he was destined for something big and he knew that God is faithful. He started to rely more and more on the promptings of God. One day, he took a risk and he took his sheep further afar from the usual grazing ground. This is when he met God through the burning bush. God did not forget Moses. God chose Moses to achieve something big and he was not going to give up on him. Together with God, Moses became the liberation of his people.

Our weaknesses will not prevent God from achieving what He has destined for us. If he has chosen us for a particular mission, He will see it through with us. Last Saturday I had a meeting with ten young people. I invite young people on a regular basis to explore with them possibilities of leadership in the church; especially priesthood and religious life. The thing that always surprises me is that God calls people in any situation. During this meeting, some of these young men talked about their lives and how at some point in time, they felt God as a powerful reality in their lives. This personal encounter is so real for them that they are prepared to at least seriously consider embracing a committed way of living with our God and in serving others through the priesthood and religious life.

One person shared about his journey in being with god starting with being a member of a Pentecostal church. After a while he decided to explore being part of the Anglican church and at present he has been through the RCIA programme with the intention of becoming a full member of the Catholic Church. Another person, shared about the times when he was a teenager. He developed a very rebellious character. He became involved in the drug scene and drank heavily. He wanted to be different and he tried to be involved in all these things that made him so different from the accepted religious and social principles and expectations. Gradually he became involved in prayer groups, had a conversion experience and is now studying for the priesthood. God will never give up on us.

Both of these attitudes can be captured in the prayer of St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits.

“Take O Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding, and my whole will
whatever I have and possess,
you have given to me.
To you Lord, I return it all,
do with it what you will.
Give me only love for you and your grace
this is enough for me”.

Let us pray this prayer every day.

God Bless.