Sunday, November 16, 2014

Thirty third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

MATTHEW 25:13-40
MY GRANDFATHER HAD COMPLETED FOURTH GRADE IN A LITTLE COUNTRY SCHOOL BEFORE HIS PARENTS MADE HIM START WORKING ON THE FARM.  WHEN HE WAS FOURTEEN HE LEFT HOME AND WORKED ON RANCHES UNTIL HE WAS THIRTY.  AFTER THAT HE HELD A LOT OF LOW-PAYING JOBS WHILE RAISING HIS FAMILY – HE WAS A SALESMAN, A BARTENDER, A HANDYMAN – HE NEVER OWNED HIS OWN HOME AND DROVE AROUND IN AN OLD USED CAR.  NOW AND THEN I'D ACCOMPANY MY GRANDPARENTS ON A SHOPPING EXPEDITION, AND I REMEMBER HOW, EVERY TIME WE WOULD PASS A CERTAIN VERY POPULAR DRIVE IN RESTAURANT – YOU KNOW, ONE OF THOSE KIND WHERE YOUNG LADIES BROUGHT YOUR ORDER OUT AND ATTACHED IT TO YOUR WINDOW WITH A SPECIAL TRAY – I GUESS YOU HAVE TO PRETTY OLD TO REMEMBER THAT, THOUGH – HE WOULD REMARK THAT THE MAN WHO HAD SET UP THAT BUSINESS HAD ASKED MY GRANDFATHER TO BE HIS PARTNER.  MY GRANDFATHER ALWAYS REGRETTED HAVING PASSED UP THAT OPPORTUNITY.
TODAY'S GOSPEL IS ABOUT PASSING UP OPPORTUNITY.  IN A DEEPER SENSE, IT IS ABOUT WHY WE PASS UP OPPORTUNITY.  WE USUALLY FOCUS ON THE POOR FELLOW WHO BURIED THE TALENT HIS MASTER GAVE HIM.  WE HEAR THOSE WORDS “MASTER, I KNEW YOU WERE A DEMANDING PERSON, HARVESTING WHERE YOU DID NOT PLANT AND GATHERING WHERE YOU DID NOT SCATTER; SO OUT OF FEAR I WENT OFF AND BURIED YOUR TALENT IN THE GROUND.”  AND WE MIGHT SYMPATHIZE WITH HIM WHEN THE MASTER TAKES THE ONE TALENT AWAY AND GIVES IT TO THE ONE WITH TEN, AND THROWS THE USELESS SERVANT OUT OF THE HOUSE.
BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE STORY, THE MAN WHO RECEIVED TEN TALENTS PROBABLY KNEW THE VERY SAME THING ABOUT THE MASTER.  IF HE TOOK A CHANCE AND LOST THOSE TALENTS, HE WOULD BE PUNISHED TEN TIMES AS MUCH, I WOULD THINK.  BUT HIS VIEW WAS DOMINATED BY A DIFFERENT IDEA – “THIS IS MY BIG CHANCE TO SHOW MY MASTER THAT HE CAN TRUST ME!”  AND THE ENTERPRISING SERVANT SET OUT TO DO JUST THAT – AND HE SUCCEEDED.  THE MAN WITH TWO TALENTS DOES LIKEWISE.  THE MASTER HAD, AFTER ALL, DISTRIBUTED THE TALENTS ACCORDING TO EACH ONE'S ABILITY.  THE FIRST TWO SERVANTS DID THE BEST THEY COULD WITH WHAT THEY HAD, AND THE MASTER COMMENDED THEM FOR IT, AND PROMISED THAT THEY WOULD BE PROMOTED AND GIVEN MORE RESPONSIBILITIES.
THE WORD “TALENT” BY THE WAY, IS FROM A GREEK WORD FOR A WEIGHT OF ABOUT 130 POUNDS.  WHEN JESUS LIVED, IT WAS A SHORTHAND WAY OF REFERRING TO THAT AMOUNT OF GOLD – IN OTHER WORDS, A HUGE AMOUNT, AN INCREDIBLE VALUE TO TRUST TO ONE OF YOUR SERVANTS.  WHEN THE SCRIPTURES WERE TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH, THE WORD BEGAN TO DESIGNATE A GIFT, OR AN ABILITY SOMEONE WAS BORN WITH.  BUT WHETHER WE ARE THINKING OF A  HUGE SUM OF MONEY OR OF SOME SORT OF  GIFT WE'VE BEEN  GIVEN OR SOME SORT OF ABILITY THAT WE'VE NEVER WORKED FOR, THE PARABLE STILL WORKS.
SAINT PAUL IN THREE DIFFERENT PLACES IN HIS WRITINGS REFERS TO GIFTS, OR CHARISMS, EACH CHRISTIAN IS GIVEN BY THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR THE BUILDING UP OF THE CHURCH.  MUCH OF THE TIME, THESE GIFTS BUILD UPON CAPACITIES PEOPLE ALREADY HAVE – IF YOU ARE A GOOD TEACHER, MAYBE YOUR CHARISM IS TO TEACH THE FAITH; IF YOU KNOW HOW TO RUN A BUSINESS, YOUR CHARISM MIGHT BE ADMINISTRATION.  BUT THESE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ARE NOT GIVEN FOR YOUR BENEFIT; THEY ARE TO BE USED FOR THE CHURCH, FOR THE PEOPLE GOD HAS CALLED TOGETHER.  AND THE QUESTION THEN COMES UP, IF EVERYONE IS GIVEN A CHARISM, WHY DO SO FEW ACTUALLY USE THEIR CHARISM?  LEAVING ASIDE THE FACT THAT MOST CATHOLICS DON'T SEE THEMSELVES AS HAVING CHARISMS AND AS A RESULT MAKE NO EFFORT TO DISCOVER THEIR OWN SPECIAL GIFTS, I THINK WE LOOK AT GOD THE WAY THE THIRD SERVANT LOOKS AT HIS MASTER – WE ARE MOTIVATED BY FEAR, HOPING THAT IF WE FULFILL THE MINIMUM – MASS ON SUNDAY AND HOLY DAYS, AVOIDING THEFT AND MURDER AND ADULTERY, GOING TO CONFESSION NOW AND THEN – WE'LL MAKE IT TO HEAVEN, PROBABLY BY WAY OF PURGATORY, BUT WE'LL MAKE IT.  WE WON'T GIVE GOD A REASON TO SEND US TO HELL, BECAUSE HE IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR A REASON, WE KNOW.
BUT THE GOOD SERVANTS COULDN'T WAIT TO GET OUT THERE AND USE THEIR MASTER'S FORTUNE TO MAKE EVEN MORE MONEY – FOR THEIR MASTER, NOT THEMSELVES.    AND NOTICE THAT THE TWO SERVANTS, ONE OF WHOM HAS MADE HIS MASTER TEN TALENTS AND THE OTHER TWO, RECEIVE EXACTLY THE SAME COMMENDATION FROM THE MASTER, “WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT, SINCE YOU WERE FAITHFUL IN SMALL MATTERS, I WILL GIVE YOU GREAT RESPONSIBILITIES.  COME SHARE YOUR MASTER'S JOY”.  WHEN WE USE OUR CHARISMS, WE ARE BEING VEHICLES FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT; HE MAY CHOOSE TO USE ONE PERSON'S GIFTS A LOT AND ANOTHER'S ONLY A LITTLE.  BLESSED CHARLES DE FOUCALD, WHO FOUNDED THE LITTLE BROTHERS OF JESUS, DIED WHEN THERE WAS JUST HIM AND ONE OTHER PERSON WHO STILL BELONGED TO THE ORDER.  SOMETIMES ONE'S CHARISM MAY BE USED ONLY ONCE.  THE CHURCH HAS HONORED MANY MARTYRS WHO WERE INDIFFERENT CHRISTIANS UP TO THE POINT WHERE THEY HAD TO CHOOSE BETWEEN DEATH OR RENOUNCING THEIR FAITH.  THEIR CHARISM WAS ONLY EXERCISED ON THAT ONE OCCASION.
BUT THE THING ABOUT THE GIFTS THE SPIRIT GIVES EACH PERSON FOR THE BUILDING UP OF THE CHURCH IS THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE THEM.  YOU CAN CHOOSE TO BURY THEM AND GO ON WITH YOUR LIFE.  WHETHER WE USE THEM OR NOT IS PARTLY DUE TO HOW WE LOOK AT GOD.  IF WE SEE HIM AS A CRUEL MASTER WHO REAPS WHAT HE DOES NOT SEW, WE HAVE VERY LITTLE INCENTIVE TO DO ANYTHING BESIDES THE BARE MINIMUM.  BUT IF WE SEE HIM AS A MASTER WHO LETS US ENTER INTO PARTNERSHIP WITH HIM IN BUILDING UP THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, A MASTER WHO WILL LET US ENTER INTO HIS JOY, WHO WILL REWARD US WITH EVEN MORE RESPONSIBILITY ONCE WE HAVE SHOWN THAT WE CAN HANDLE A LITTLE, THEN WE REALIZE THAT EXERCISING OUR CHARISMS TO THEIR FULLEST IS THE ONLY THING THAT REALLY MATTERS.
MY GRANDFATHER SPENT MUCH OF HIS LIFE REGRETTING THE OPPORTUNITY HE PASSED UP.  MAY YOU AND I NEVER REGRET OUR CHANCE TO MULTIPLY OUR MASTER'S WEALTH AND ENTER INTO HIS JOY.