33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 25:14-30
THE OTHER DAY I WAS TALKING TO A MAN I'VE ADMIRED FOR A LONG TIME. HE'S VERY OLD, NOW, AND SHOWS A LOT OF THE FAILINGS OF OLD AGE, BUT HIS MIND IS SHARP. I MENTIONED TO HIM HOW I WAS WORRYING ABOUT MY OWN TRANSITION; I AM GETTING READY TO REDUCE MY WORK LOAD, AND EVENTUALLY RETIRE. I TOLD HIM HOW I HAD REGRETS FOR ALL THE THINGS I THOUGHT I WOULD DO, AND NOW SEE THAT I WON'T REALLY DO THEM. AND IN TRUTH, I LOOK BACK AT MY SPIRITUAL LIFE, AND FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT THAT. WHY AM I NOT FURTHER ALONG THAN I AM? WHY AM I NOT A GREAT SAINT? AND MY FRIEND, WHO IS ONE OF THE MOST DEVOUT MEN I KNOW, REPLIED THAT HE FELT THE SAME WAY. HE TOO HAD A SENSE THAT HIS LIFE HAD NOT LIVED UP TO ITS PROMISE, THAT HIS VISION FOR HIMSELF WHEN HE WAS YOUNG HAD FALLEN SHORT. AND PERHAPS WE ALL FEEL THAT WAY.
THERE ARE MANY HEROES IN THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WERE GREAT MISSIONARIES, LIKE ST. PAUL AND ST. FRANCIS XAVIER. THERE WERE MEN AND WOMEN WHO LIVED HEROIC LIVES OF CONTEMPLATION, LIKE ST. ANTHONY OF THE DESERT, OR ST. CATHERINE OF SIENNA. GREAT MYSTICS, MARTYRS, FOUNDERS OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS, WRITERS, THEOLOGIANS – PEOPLE WHO LED LIVES WHICH HAVE COME TO DEFINE WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CHRISTIAN; PEOPLE WHO WORKED WITH ALL THEIR HEARTS TO FOLLOW JESUS.
SOMETIMES WHEN YOU READ THEIR LIVES, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT THEY'VE DONE, ITS EASY TO GET DISCOURAGED. WHEN YOU READ ABOUT ONE OF THE RECENTLY CANONIZED MARTYRS OF KOREA, WHO WAS BROUGHT BEFORE THE JUDGE WITH HIS FRIENDS, AND WHO IN A MOMENT OF FEAR, DENIED THAT HE WAS A CHRISTIAN. HE WAS RELEASED, BUT LATER CAME BACK INTO THE COURTROOM AND ADMITTED LOUDLY THAT HE WAS A CHRISTIAN, AND WENT ON TO HIS DEATH – COULD YOU OR I DO THAT?
TODAY'S GOSPEL SHOULD BE ONE OF COMFORT. WHAT WE ARE GIVEN TO LIVE OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES IS NOT REALLY IN OUR HANDS. THE GREAT SAINTS WERE NOT SPIRITUAL ATHLETES; THEY WERE GIVEN THE GRACE TO LIVE LIVES TO SERVE AS BEACONS TO THE REST OF US, LIVES TO TEACH, TO HEAL, TO CONVERT. GOD WAS THE REASON FOR SAINT FRANCIS; ALL HE DID WAS COOPERATE WITH GOD'S GRACE. GOD WAS THE REASON FOR MOTHER THERESA; SHE WAS GIVEN FIVE TALENTS, AND MADE ANOTHER FIVE. AND GOD IS THE REASON FOR MY FRIEND; HE WORKED FOR THE GOVERNMENT, HE RAISED A FAMILY, HE SAW TO IT THAT HIS CHILDREN HAD EVERY ADVANTAGE, AND HE WORKED FOR HIS CHURCH AS WELL.
IN THE GOSPEL, WE READ ABOUT A MAN WHO STARTED WITH FIVE TALENTS, ANOTHER, WITH TWO. AND BOTH COOPERATED FULLY WITH WHAT THEY WERE GIVEN. THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS WERE NOT THEIR DOING; THEY COULD NEVER HAVE BEEN DONE WITHOUT WHAT THEIR LORD GAVE THEM. THE THIRD MAN WAS GIVEN ONE TALENT, AND DID NOTHING WITH IT. THE POINT OF JESUS' STORY, PERHAPS, IS NOT THAT WE SHOULD LOOK WITH ENVY ON THOSE WHO ARE SPIRITUAL GIANTS, BUT ONLY LOOK TO WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US, AND ASK IF WE ARE USING OUR TALENTS WELL. IT IS INTERESTING THAT THE MASTER DID NOT EVEN BERATE THE THIRD MAN FOR NOT DOING WHAT THE OTHERS HAD DONE, NAMELY, DOUBLING WHAT HE HAD BEEN GIVEN. HE CHASTISED HIM BECAUSE HE COULD HAVE AT LEAST PUT THE TALENT IN THE BANK SO THAT IT WOULD EARN INTEREST. AND THAT SEEMS TO ME TO BE THE MERCIFUL PART OF THIS STORY. GOD WILL SAY “WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT” INDEED, IF WE HAVE DONE GREAT THINGS. BUT HE WILL SAY THAT AS WELL IF WE HAVE ONLY DONE SMALL THINGS, IF WE HAVE ONLY ADDED A LITTLE BIT TO THE WORLD FROM WHAT WE WERE GIVEN.
THIS IS NOT A REASON FOR COMPLACENCY. PERHAPS THERE IS ANOTHER LESSON IN THIS STORY. TO THE TWO MEN WHO DOUBLED WHAT THEY HAD BEEN GIVEN, THEY ARE PROMISED THAT THEY WILL BE PUT IN CHARGE OF GREATER RESPONSIBILITIES. NOT ONLY WILL THEY ENTER THEIR MASTER'S JOY, BUT THEY WILL PARTICIPATE IN THEIR MASTER'S WORK IN THE FUTURE. IN THE STORY IN LUKE, THEY ARE PUT IN CHARGE OF TOWNS, THEY GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO FROM SLAVE TO RULER. AND JESUS AS WELL HAS PROMISED THAT THOSE WHO FOLLOW HIM WILL RULE, WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE CREATION OF HIS KINGDOM. THE MAN WHO HAS MADE FIVE TALENTS GETS ANOTHER; HE WHO HAS MUCH WILL GET MORE; AND THE MAN WHO HID THE ONE TALENT LOSES EVEN THAT; HE WHO HAD LITTLE WILL HAVE EVEN THAT TAKEN AWAY.
SOME TIME AGO THERE WAS A VERY POPULAR BOOK CALLED “THE PRAYER OF JABEZ”. IN THAT PRAYER, THE PRAYER OF AN OLD TESTAMENT PATRIARCH, ABOUT WHOM WE KNOW NOTHING ELSE, JABEZ ASKS GOD TO INCREASE HIS TERRITORY. THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK INTERPRETS THAT TO MEAN THAT JABEZ WANTED THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO MORE FOR GOD, AND THAT THIS WAS A PRAYER ALL OF US CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE SAYING. CERTAINLY THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS SEEMS TO IMPLY THE SAME IDEA.
SO WE NEEDN'T LOOK WITH ENVY AT THE GREAT SAINTS. IF GOD WANTED YOU OR ME TO BE A GREAT SAINT, HE WOULD GIVE US THE WHEREWITHAL TO BE A GREAT SAINT. IT WOULD NOT BE OUR DOING. MAYBE HE GIVES MANY THE WHEREWITHAL, AND MAYBE VERY FEW COOPERATE. BUT OUR JOB IS NOT TO BE ANOTHER FRANCIS, ANOTHER ST. THOMAS, ANOTHER ST. THERESA. OUR JOB IS TO BE WHO I AM, TO TAKE WHAT I HAVE BEEN GIVEN AND MAKE SOMETHING OF IT, EVEN IF ONLY CUPCAKES FOR A BAKE SALE, HELPING SET UP FOR A PARISH EVENT, TEACHING IN FAITH FORMATION – OR SEEING TO IT THAT MY FAMILY HAS WHAT THEY NEED, OR THAT I GIVE WHAT I CAN TO HELP THOSE LESS FORTUNATE. PERHAPS MY JOB AT THIS POINT IN MY LIFE IS JUST TO BROADEN AND DEEPEN MY OWN UNDERSTANDING OF MY FAITH, IN PREPARATION TO BEING CALLED TO SOMETHING GREATER. AND IF WE BEGIN WITH LITTLE THINGS, AND MAKE MORE OUT OF WHAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN, WE MAY FIND THAT MORE WILL BE GIVEN TO US TO USE, MORE WILL BE PUT AT OUR DISPOSAL, AND THE HABITS AND GENEROSITY THAT HAVE HELPED US TAKE A LITTLE AND MAKE MORE WILL SERVE US WELL AS THE MASTER PUTS US IN CHARGE OF GREATER THINGS. AND MAYBE ONE OR TWO OF US WILL DISCOVER BEFORE THE END OF OUR LIVES THAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN FIVE TALENTS, AND WE CAN MAKE FIVE MORE FOR OUR MASTER.
SO LET US PRAY ON THIS LAST SUNDAY THAT WE WILL HEAR THOSE WONDERFUL WORDS SOMEDAY, “WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT! COME SHARE YOUR MASTER'S JOY.”