8^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Luke 6:39-45

Cracked Pots

Chapel at Cana

 A water bearer in ancient India had two large pots, each hung on an end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master’s house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it finally spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.

"I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."   "Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"   "I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts." the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the Pot apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pots side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my masters table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."

We are all cracked pots; we are all in some way broken!  None of us are perfect; we all make mistakes, we all have faults and failings, we all sin!

We stress out about what happened yesterday and we worry about what might happen tomorrow.  And we are burdened with the cares of today, so many duties and responsibilities.  We juggle so much on a daily basis! Whether it is money, or relationships, or the violent world we live in, whether it’s our health or that of our family, whether it’s the loss of a loved one or the loss of a job, we are all somehow weighed down, lost, frightened, even angry.  And often under such a crushing weight, we stumble and fall! 

That is what we hear in today’s first reading from Sirach!  Wise words that we can all identify with!  We all have faults and, in times of testing and tribulations, we can feel as if we have been thrust into the fiery furnace.  As we hear in the Gospel, we are often so quick to judge others, to call out their faults, that we end up blind to our own!

But Paul reminds us that death is not the end and that we need to stand firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord our labor is not in vain.  That is the solution that the Gospel offers us today!  Take the beam out of our own eye before trying to remove the splinter in our brother’s eye.  Take care of ourselves first!  Deal with our own faults first before calling out the failings of others! 

Throughout the Gospel, Jesus gives us a model to follow!  He spends his days teaching, and preaching, and healing – day after day, town after town.  Even after sunset the crowds still flock to him for words of comfort or a healing touch and he turns no one away! And he then travels from one town to the next, on foot, in the heat and the dust, day after day!  Why doesn’t He crack?  Why doesn’t He lose hope?

Because he remembers to take the time, to leave time for his most important relationship – the one with His Father!  In spite of all He is called to do, He takes the time to step away from the world, to go off by Himself to pray!!  To collect His thoughts, to slow down, to renew and remember the loving relationship He has with His Father, to refresh and prepare Himself for the days ahead!  That is what we hear in today’s Gospel – for good and for bad, take care of yourself first.  Otherwise you are of no help to others.

And that is what we are called to do as well – in spite of all our cares and concerns about life,  in spite of our own doubts about ourselves, about our own brokenness, in spite of all the juggling of schedules and relationships that we do on a daily basis, we are reminded to leave some time and space for a simple conversation with our Father, so that we can share our burdens, our brokenness with Him, so that He can help to lighten our load, ease our burdens, comfort us in our hopelessness.

We are all broken, cracked pots, we all are weighed down by the cares of the world.  But, like the water bearer, God our Father, accepts us as we are, cracks and all, carries us through the worst of times and continues to offer us his love, his friendship.  We set aside time for our job, our friends, our family, our grandsons!  How much more refreshed, unburdened can we be if we only spend some time with our Father!!

There is a centuries old Japanese tradition that, when you break a pottery cup or bowl, you don’t just throw it away.  You mend it, you put it back together. But instead of using a simple glue, you mend it using gold! Instead of hiding or disguising the cracks and the breaks, you emphasize them emphasizing its flaws and fractures. 

Maybe, with Lent approaching, that is our task – to step away from our burdens, to slow ourselves down, to recognize our brokenness and sinfulness and spend some time and share that brokenness with our Father.

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But the Lord loves us anyway!  And if we will allow it, like the water-bearer, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father's table. In God’s great economy, nothing goes to waste.