2 Cor 4:7-15 / Matthew 5:27-32
Modern day cooking utensils are generally made of metal, and they come with various characteristics like non-stick or fast-heating or non-corrosive and whatever.
But the earliest cooking utensils were earthenware which is made from the common clay to fine porcelain.
Even nowadays, some cooking is done in earthenware and the food is kept in it. Some are of the opinion that the food taste better and last longer.
But earthenware is delicate and fragile. Needless to say, a careless knock will crack the earthenware and render it useless for cooking or for storage.
In the 1st reading, St. Paul gives the analogy of a Christian being like an earthenware jar that holds the treasures of God, to make it clear that whatever good a Christian does come from God and not from self.
And as such, even though fragile and delicate like earthenware, Christians should be able to withstand the knocks of life and yet keep the treasures of God within.
But what can crack the earthenware-like nature of a Christian is not the external knocks but the knocks from within.
These are the knocks of sin that will crack the earthenware-like nature of the Christian and render a Christian useless to contain anything, much less the treasures of God.
So let us keep sin out of our lives. Let us cut off any sinful habits so that we can truly contain and share the treasures of God with others.