Homily: July 28, 2022, Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

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 “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.”

Through prophet Jeremiah’s words, God is telling us He is the potter, we are the clay, and He is not finished making us yet. Whenever we turn out badly, He will remake us.

This reminds me of an old song by Joel Hemphill titled ‘He’s still working on me’. It is one of my favorites, because the lyrics of the song are so encouraging and assuring. Let me read it out for you:


He's still working on me

make me what I ought to be

took him just a week to make the moon and stars,

the sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars

How loving and patient He must be

He's still working on me. 

There really ought to be a sign upon my heart

‘Don't judge him yet, there's an unfinished part’

But I'll be better just according to His plan

Fashioned by the Master's loving hands.

In the mirror of His word

Reflections that I see

Makes me wonder why He never gave up on me

But He loves me as I am and helps me when I pray

Remember He's the potter, I'm the clay

He's still working on me

make me what I- ought to be

took him just a week to make the moon and stars,

the sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars

How loving and patient He must be

He's still working on me. 

Yes, every one of us has unfinished parts that God is still working on, if we allow Him. He will keep working on us till we are perfect for eternity. But note that the remolding involves breaking us first, that could be painful. Yet the pain will be worth it, because we are becoming more and more the way God wants us to be.

Fulton Sheen too, had this to say in his book “The Treasure in Clay”:

“God is constantly remolding the clay, giving it a second and third, and even seventy-times-seven chances…The divine potter can change the circumstances of the human clay, maybe adding a little suffering here and there. The portion of life which is tried and tested, which is subjected to many trials, is not a waste. The tears, the agonies, the frustrations, the toils are not lost.”

So, my dear friends, let us be patient as we entrust our whole being to the divine potter, He is still working on us, making and remaking us into beautiful vessels fit for His Kingdom. Amen. 



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