Sunday Homily

November 16

Today as we gather to celebrate the Eucharist, we hear the parable of a rich man who gave each of his servants some talents (coins) before he left on a journey.  While he was gone, two of his servants took the talents they had been given and doubled them.  One servant, though, buried his talent.  When the master returned, he was very pleased with two servants who had doubled their talents, but he was very angry at the one who did nothing with what he had been given.

In the following story, we see how a wise priest in England used money to demonstrate how people can take what they have been given and develop them.

The story takes place in the parish of St. Mary in Grundisburgh, England.  Because the people wanted to raise money for their church tower, the Vicar of the parish gave a 1-pound coin to each of his one hundred parishioners.  He asked them to take the coin and make more money with it.  In six months, they were to return what they had made to the church’s fund for the bell tower.

When the six months were up, the people returned to the church with thirteen times the amount of money they had been given!  The parishioners were many times more successful than the two men in Jesus’ parable who only doubled their money.  At a special harvest festival service in the thirteenth-century church, the Vicar reported how pleased he was.

Parishioners found many novel ways to grow the 1-pound coin they had been given.  Some did rabbit-breeding, shoe shining, or selling lemonade.  One of the most enterprising people was Mrs. Helen Taylor, the local hairdresser.  She bought 1-pound worth of material to make pots at the local college.  By reinvesting the profits to buy more material, she eventually turned her original 1-pound coin into 93.50 pounds.

Mrs. Ann Johnson took her 1-pound coin and bought ingredients for two cakes.  With the 6-pound profit she made on those cakes, she held a cream tea party in her garden—making $43-pounds.  Every person who had been given a 1-pound coin took the money and made more, so the Vicar did not need to scold anyone for “burying” their talent like the lazy servant in Jesus’ parable.

Now the moral of this story is not how to become little capitalists.  Rather, Jesus used money to show the Christian principle of growth.  In many of his talks, we hear his vision of the Kingdom of God.  In every instance, we hear about growth, for example the growth of a mustard seed into a huge bush where birds make their home and the rising of dough thanks to the addition of yeast.

From Jesus’ story, I think we can learn three things.

First, all of the gifts we have come from God.  These include not only our family and friends and material things, but also our enthusiasm, work ethic, energy, and brains.  Because our gifts come from God, we should be thankful to him for all our blessings.

Second, we are to take the gifts we receive and develop them.  Many people in our country use their many gifts to create families.  They join together with another person and create new people, raising and nurturing them into mature human beings.  In doing so, they need to use an incredible array of talents that God gave them to be successful family-builders. 

Some people develop their talents in their occupations.  This past week, for example, I listened to the owner of Our State magazine address a meeting of the Wilmington Rotary Club.  He talked about how he had gone to school to develop business skills.  He then spent many years taking failing radio stations and building them up to be successful.  When he achieved success with a station, he would find another in need of his skills.

Other people develop their talents through their hobbies or volunteer work.  Some of the greatest works of art have been created in this way.  The great American folk artist, affectionately known as Grandma Moses, for example, didn’t begin painting until she was in her 70’s. 

The important thing is that we grow and flourish rather than stagnate.

The third thing we learn about our talents in Jesus’ perspective is that we should share what we have with others.  Imagine, for example, a woman who spends twelve years becoming a surgeon and then, upon finishing her residency, decides she doesn’t want to practice medicine.  What a tragedy that would be.

Jesus continually tells us about the concept of generosity.  He tells us that when we develop our talents, we should share with the less fortunate than ourselves.  He also tells us that the more we share, the more we will be blessed.  He says where our treasure is, that is where our heart is.

As we continue our life journeys this week, it would be a good time to look at our lives.  How do I thank God for the gifts that he has given me?  How am I developing these gifts to the best of my ability?  How am I sharing the fruits of my labor with others?

And that is the good news I have for you on this Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2008.