“O LORD, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands.”
These words of Isaiah bring me deep peace. So often in our lives we try to do the work! All of the work! We try to go solo in our work lives, family’s lives, school lives, even our spiritual lives. But this image of the clay and the potter brings our solo mission to a screeching halt. Isaiah declares that we are the work of the Father’s hands. In this truth, instead of living the Christian life as a solo mission, where it is all on us, this reality calls us to stop what we are doing and put ourselves on the potter’s wheel. We need to slow down and let God work on us. This is what the season of Advent is all about. Are you willing to slow down this Advent season and allow God to work on your heart, mind and soul? This is the Advent Challenge! What is the best way to do this? Eucharistic Adoration.
This is particularly why I am so glad that Eucharistic Devotions Weekend occurs during Advent this year (December 4-6). For the act of coming to adore the Lord in the Eucharist echoes the preparation of coming to adore the Lord at the Nativity and His second coming. It truly gives us a chance to prepare and be at peace, which is the whole focus of Advent itself.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “To adore God is to praise and exalt him and to humble oneself, as Mary did in the Magnificat, confessing with gratitude that he has done great things and holy is his name...the worship of the one God sets man free from turning in on himself, from the slavery of sin and the idolatry of the world.”
Again, we can enter that solo mission in life, where it is all about us, what we have to do in life. We can fall into the “I gotta do this and I gotta do that” way of living. But eventually, we need to turn away from ourselves and turn our lives to the God who wants to love us and transform us. All we have to do is put ourselves on the potter’s wheel, all we have to do is put ourselves in the presence of God in the Eucharist, and He will do the rest. Are you going to rush through this season of Advent this year? Or are you going to embrace the way of Eucharistic Adoration and stop, be still and become the work of the Father’s hands?
God’s peace and joy be with you!
Fr. Jeremy Merzweiler
