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Commentary 3-09-2024
Clay Jars, Incredible Treasure
In today’s first reading, Paul says that «we carry this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be seen that this extraordinary power belongs to God and not to us.» Sometimes we’d like to be the extraordinary treasure, instead of carrying it. And other times, we claim to be the jar and deny the treasure inside, out of a humility that’s really just pure pride. What’s necessary is to recognize both things: we have an extraordinary treasure (that comes from God), but we are clay jars. And that’s where grace lies. Sometimes we get things mixed up: we try to pass ourselves off as «golden vessels,» but deep down we know that what we carry inside is something mediocre. And this isn’t fair because it denies the truth of God, who has given us so much grace, such a treasure. It’s an insult to the Spirit.
That’s why the Gospel also insists on this: «The greatest among you should act as if he were the least.» Why? Because Jesus himself is among us as a servant… to give us the greatest treasure, which is the Kingdom, salvation.
Gregory the Great, whose memory we celebrate today, understood this well. Born into a high-class family, he was a politician, received civil and ecclesiastical honors, and was appointed Pope, when all he wanted was to be a monk. He gave away all his possessions, cared for the poor, fought for the rights of the Church, defended Rome from invaders and heretics, and gave the Church one of its greatest liturgical treasures, Gregorian chant. He’s rightly called «the Great.» And yet, perhaps his best legacy is the summary of today’s readings: he proclaimed himself «servant of the servants of God,» which is the motto that all successive popes have adopted. With all his wealth, his knowledge, his power, he knew that «the treasure is in clay jars.» That’s the true mark of identity of every Christian.