Recently I was part of a small gathering for Mass at a local thrift store ministry. Afterwards we prayed and processed as holy water was sprinkled throughout the building. The holy water was not in a fancy receptacle as one might see at the parish church; it was in a ceramic bowl someone pulled off the thrift store shelves and an old paintbrush was used to sprinkle it. When the priest blessed the water at the beginning of Mass, we used what we had (including salt from an old fast food packet that was blessed and put in the water). Was the water any less holy and blessed because we used these thrift store items? No! - for it is not the receptacle, but what's within it that matters. In the same way, God transforms and uses us, human versions of dusty bowls, old paintbrushes and fast food salt packets. We are His imperfect receptacles that hold the holiness of Christ.
I know my faults and sins; the ceramic bowl of my humanness has plenty of cracks, and my spiritual paintbrush is worn and lacking. I'm not even sure if I have a salt packet! Yet over and over again, His grace is sufficient for me and I am made perfect in my weakness.
Next time you feel unworthy to carry His message, think of the ceramic bowl gathering dust on a thrift store shelf that got to hold the holy water that dispelled the devil and the old paintbrush that got it there. Then you'll know that God will use even you and me...
...provided we're willing to be His earthen vessels.
"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." (2 Corinthians 4:7)
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2 comments:
today i met an earthen vessel who's interior was filled with heavily coated rust , instead of holy water...... water of the spirit .
this person ( earthen vessel ) made a joke and challenged the authenticity of my wishes to have a new church building site sprinkled with holy water .
How sad was it to see this earthen vessel express negative after negative comments and instead desired that the focus of the conversation was on her own self ,
( her rust ) rather then on the joyous occasion of holy water blessing.
in the eyes of jesus we are all earthen vessels ....we all have rust .... some apparently have much more then others.
we must pray for those earthen vessels who have passed away and ended up in purgatory .Thick , heavily coated rust is very painful for the soul to be cleansed of in purgatory . We must sprinkle holy water on these earthen vessel souls through our prayers . The souls in purgatory can only get relief through our prayer offerings.
through our prayers let us sprinkle holy water on each other everyday while we are alive on earth ........ bring a towel , raincoat and umbrella depending on how much holy water you think needs to be used to clean the rust off our blessed earthen vessels.
I hope this didn't put a damper on your gesture of offering holy water for the site...
It is nice to know our ground is now blessed with it...
Thank you for bringing it.
God bless you!
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