Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

MATTHEW 25:14-30
AT THE END OF DECEMBER, I WILL BE OFFICIALLY RETIRING FROM MY PROFESSION. IT'S ABOUT TIME; I'M 69 AND THE LITTLE SIGNS OF DETERIORATION IN MY MIND AND BODY ARE GETTING BIGGER. AND OF COURSE I'M HAPPY ABOUT IT – BUT PART OF ME IS VERY NERVOUS. I'VE SPENT MY WHOLE ADULT LIFE DOING MEDICINE – PATIENT CARE, RESEARCH, TEACHING, ADMINISTRATING – AND IT'S BEEN WONDERFULLY REWARDING AND FULFILLING. BUT ON JANUARY 1ST, I WILL GIVE IT ALL UP. SOME TIME IN MY FORTIES I REMEMBER LOOKING FORWARD TO A TIME WHEN I WOULDN'T HAVE TO BE ON CALL, WHEN I WOULDN'T HAVE TO TELL ANOTHER PATIENT THAT HE OR SHE WAS GOING TO DIE, WHEN I WOULDN'T HAVE TO GIVE BAD NEWS TO A GRIEVING WIDOW. I LOOKED FORWARD TO THE DAY WHEN I WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE BUDGET OF MY DIVISION, AND WHAT I COULD DO TO IMPROVE THE FISCAL OUTLOOK. I LOOKED FORWARD TO NOT HAVING TO MEDIATE DISAGREEMENTS AND TELL PEOPLE THAT THINGS WEREN'T WORKING OUT, THEY SHOULD LOOK FOR ANOTHER JOB. SO WHY AM I ANXIOUS? WHAT HAS CHANGED?
TODAY JESUS TALKS ABOUT THREE SERVANTS; TWO TAKE THE MONEY HE HAS GIVEN THEM – AND THESE ARE SIZABLE AMOUNTS, BY THE WAY – A TALENT WAS ABOUT WHAT AN AVERAGE PERSON EARNED IN A YEAR – AND THEY HAD DOUBLED WHAT HE HAD GIVEN THEM. AND THE THIRD HAD BURIED HIS IN THE GROUND, FEARING THAT IF HE LOST THE MONEY, THINGS WOULD GO HARD WITH HIM. AND THE TWO ARE REWARDED, AND THE ONE IS PUNISHED. BUT THAT'S THE FUNNY THING ABOUT THIS PARABLE: THE TWO WHO ARE REWARDED ARE GIVEN GREATER RESPONSIBILITIES. YOU THOUGHT MANAGING TEN TALENTS WAS HARD? I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU A LOT MORE TO MANAGE. ST. LUKE, IN TELLING THIS SAME STORY, SAYS THAT THE TWO WHO WERE REWARDED WERE GIVEN TEN AND FOUR VILLAGES TO OVERSEE; THAT MEANT THAT THEY HAD TO MAKE SURE THE PEOPLE WERE SAFE, AND THAT THE PRODUCTION OF THE VILLAGE WAS ENOUGH TO KEEP THE VILLAGERS FED AND GIVE SOME OF THE SURPLUS TO THE MASTER. THEY WOULD ALSO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING THE PEACE, MEDIATING DISAGREEMENTS – ALL THOSE THINGS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO A WELL TUNED ORGANIZATION. JESUS SEEMS TO IMPLY THAT THE REWARD FOR DOING SOMETHING WELL IS THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO EVEN MORE WELL. AND LOOK AT THE MAN WHO IS PUNISHED. HE IS CALLED “USELESS” AND CAST OUT INTO THE DARKNESS. HE HAS NOTHING TO DO. HE IS OUT OF THE LOOP. AND JESUS SEEMS TO IMPLY THAT HAVING NOTHING TO DO, HAVING NO PURPOSE, IS THE EQUIVALENT OF HELL.
ONE OF MY OLD MENTORS IS A PHYSICIAN WHO IS ABOUT 86 NOW. HE HAS NEVER STOPPED WORKING. HE WORKED WHILE HE WAS RECEIVING CONTINUOUS ANTIBIOTICS THROUGH AN INTRAVENOUS LINE FOR AN INFECTION AFTER A MAJOR OPERATION. HE DOESN'T SEE PATIENTS ANYMORE, BECAUSE HE'S NOT SURE HE'LL BE ALIVE TOMORROW; BUT HE DOES DO RESEARCH, AND HE CONTINUES TO MENTOR YOUNG PHYSICIANS AND SCIENTISTS. AND HE RADIATES HAPPINESS. AND I COULD DESCRIBE ANOTHER PHYSICIAN WHO RETIRED PRECISELY AT 62, HAVING AMASSED A SMALL FORTUNE. ALL THE TIME I KNEW HIM, HE COULDN'T WAIT TO GET OUT OF MEDICINE AND ENJOY LIFE. AND THE LAST TIME I MET HIM, HE TOLD ME THAT RETIREMENT STINKS, BUT SO DID WORKING. HE DOESN'T RADIATE HAPPINESS.
WE CHRISTIANS RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE GIVEN TALENTS, SOME MORE, SOME LESS. WE RECOGNIZE THAT AS CHRISTIANS THERE IS MORE DEMANDED OF US THAN OUR NON-CHRISTIAN CONTEMPORARIES; GOD EXPECTS THEM TO USE THEIR TALENTS WISELY, OF COURSE; BUT THE EXPLICIT EXPECTATION OF A CHRISTIAN IS THAT THE TALENTS BE USED AT LEAST IN PART OF THE GOOD OF OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS. AND MAYBE THAT'S WHAT BOTHERS ME. AS A PHYSICIAN, I WAS PAID WELL. BUT I KNEW THAT ALMOST ANYTHING I DID AS A PHYSICIAN WAS SERVICE TO OTHERS. AND I CAME TO RECOGNIZE THAT THOSE MOMENTS WHEN I WAS ACTIVELY GIVING MYSELF TO ANOTHER PERSON WERE PRECIOUS, AND I WANTED TO DO EVEN MORE. AND IT WAS NOT TOO HARD BECAUSE OVER TIME I HAD THE RIGHT HABITS, I HAD THE KNOWLEDGE BASE, AND WHEN I WENT INTO THE CLINIC OR THE HOSPITAL, I WAS ON FAMILIAR GROUND.
I BECAME A DEACON, I THINK, LARGELY BECAUSE I WAS LOOKING FOR MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE. AND AS I RETIRE FROM MEDICINE, I HOPE THAT THERE WILL BE MORE OPPORTUNITIES. BECAUSE I STILL HAVE A LOT TO GIVE. I WOULDN'T WANT TO DRAW COMPARISONS BETWEEN MYSELF AND POPE BENEDICT. BUT IT'S INTERESTING THAT HE BEGGED POPE JOHN PAUL TO LET HIM RETIRE. HIS GOAL WAS TO SPEND THE REST OF HIS LIFE WRITING THEOLOGY AND PLAYING THE ORGAN, AND DOING A LITTLE TEACHING. JOHN PAUL REFUSED TO LET HIM RETIRE, AND OUT OF OBEDIENCE, HE CONTINUED TO FUNCTION AS JOHN PAUL'S RIGHT HAND MAN. AND OUT OF OBEDIENCE HE ACCEPTED THE CALL OF GOD THROUGH THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS, TO LEAD THE CHURCH.
TODAY'S GOSPEL SHOULD MAKE US EXAMINE OUR OWN LIVES. ARE WE REALLY HAPPY? IF WE AREN'T GIVING OURSELVES AWAY, IF WE AREN'T TAKING RISKS FOR THE GROWTH OF GOD'S KINGDOM, IF WE AREN'T DOING SOMETHING FOR OTHERS – THE POOR, THE SICK, THE LONELY, ESPECIALLY – WE PROBABLY AREN'T REALLY HAPPY. AND IF WE HAVE A TRUE CHRISTIAN SPIRIT, WE NOT ONLY RECOGNIZE THAT OUR GREATEST JOY IS IN SERVING THE KINGDOM, BUT WE HUNGER TO SERVE IT MORE AND MORE. CHRISTIANS AREN'T MEANT TO SIT ON A BEACH SOMEWHERE SIPPING TROPICAL DRINKS AND GETTING A GOOD TAN. NOR WILL WE FIND, IF WE ARE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO GET TO HEAVEN, THAT WE ARE SITTING ON A CLOUD STRUMMING A HARP, OR STARING INTO THE BLINDING CENTER OF THE HOLY TRINITY FOR EVER. NO, WE ARE HUMAN, AND WE WILL BE HUMAN EVEN THEN, AND A HUMAN IS ONLY HAPPY WHEN HE OR SHE IS BEING USEFUL. WE ARE ONLY TRULY HAPPY WHEN WE ARE GIVING OURSELVES AWAY.
THIS IS THE TIME OF YEAR WHEN THE PARISH ROLLS OUT THE ANNUAL “TIME, TALENT, AND TREASURE” CAMPAIGN. EVEN IF YOU ARE VERY BUSY, EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK YOU CAN TAKE ON ANOTHER THING, PLEASE THINK ABOUT GIVING JUST A LITTLE MORE OF YOURSELF. BECAUSE, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THE REWARD FOR GIVING SOMETHING OF YOURSELF TO GOD IS TO BE OFFERED THE CHANCE TO GIVE EVEN MORE OF YOURSELF TO GOD. AND WHEN THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO GIVE TO GOD, THEN YOU ARE WHERE YOU SHOULD BE, LIVING IN THE CENTER OF THE TRINITY WITH MARY AND THE SAINTS.