Explication
Every day
Biblical commentaries
Once again, the Gospel parables highlight the contrasts of the world: the net of the Kingdom brings in all kinds of fish; the scribe draws from his treasure the new and the old.
Society, our lives, our hearts, are all marked by these contrasts… We are a mixture of sin and grace, darkness and light, fragility and strength… God consents to this. When it comes time to sort, he undoubtedly differs from the traditional potter. What does the latter do when a vase is missed? He destroys it and starts again.
God does not proceed in the same way with the house of Israel. “To be in his hand” does not mean to be subject to his good will but to be the object of his mercy, to benefit from his protection. God does not make the sinner disappear forever. He accepts that his vase is imperfect, cracked. He himself sorts through our mixed lives… perhaps even like those Japanese artists who practice kintsugi (the art of repairing chipped porcelain by highlighting the cracks with gold dust), he passes through the breach of our imperfections to further extend the perimeter of his love. So let him sort out our nets and our treasures. There is no doubt that the measure of his mercy will be much greater than ours.
Other readings: Jer 18, 1-6; Psa 145 (146)
