In Matthew 13, after teaching in parables, Jesus asks the disciples: “Have you understood all these things?” (Matt 13:51). When they answer in the affirmative, we are told that Jesus replied, “For this reason, every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a house, who brings out of his treasure both the new and the old” (Matt 13:52).

“And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.’” Matthew 13:52

“We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). With the memorable image of the clay pot – or “earthen vessel” – St. Paul conveys the high truth of the primacy of grace . . .