We have all
been given gifts. As I have mentioned before in an earlier homily,
gifts are freely given and we are free to do with them as we see
fit. However, a very good question we can all ask ourselves and
reflect on is, how do we spend or invest our own gifts? Do we hold
on to our gifts and use them only for ourselves, or do we seek to
share the gifts with others or use them in some way so that others
can enjoy them and benefit from them as well? I think we can all
agree that both choices are well within the rights of the one who
received the gift, but the one is much more selfish
while the other is more selfless.
One of those choices glorifies ourselves, while the other has the
great potential to glorify God.
As a
seminarian I spent one summer at a spirituality program at Creighton
University in Omaha, Nebraska. Part of my time there was learning
about different way to minister to the people of God. One day we got
to visit Boys Town outside of Omaha. Some of you may know that Boys
Town was started in 1917 by a Roman Catholic priest named Father
Edward Flanagan. Looking for a way to help homeless boys in the
area, Fr. Flanagan started a boarding house. Eventually he was able
to purchase some farm land outside the city, which became known as
the Village of Boys Town. There, “Flanagan's boys” had a safe
place to live and could receive an education. They were also taught
and shown a great example of Christian faith. Fr. Flanagan is quoted
as saying that “All boys need to learn how to pray, how they pray
is up to them”. He died in 1948, but his ministry lives on today
as children of every race and religion are helped to live normal,
healthy, faith filled lives in modern society. During my visit to
Boys Town, the priest who was in charge there at the time explained
how each of the children are given a weekly allowance; I think it was
just $10. They are free to spend their allowance however they
please, but they are required to tithe each week at Sunday Church
services. That is, they must give 10%, or $1, back to the Church.
Father explained that this was to help teach the children that in
whatever they have received, they must give back to God in
thanksgiving for those gifts. Just as the children of Boys Town
learn to use their gifts to help others and to give thanks to God;
just as Fr. Flanagan used his gifts for leadership and education and
working with youth to help homeless boys; so also we as Baptized
Christians are called to use our gifts in the right way: for the
benefit of others and for the greater Glory of God.
The readings
give us several more examples of what it means to use our gifts with
other people in mind. First we heard from the Book of Proverbs.
This is a very beautiful reading, as I'm sure you noticed, describing
the virtues of a praiseworthy wife and mother. I won't go through
the whole list again, but there are some highlights that I think are
good to reflect on. It starts out describing how she does good for
her husband and her family. It describes how she goes about doing
her work of providing clothes for her family. She doesn't just do it
because she has to or because it is her job, but it says that she
does it with love: with loving hands specifically. The reading goes
on to explain how her love and her virtues do not end with her
family, but reaching out to those in need in the community as well.
“She reaches out her hands to the poor, and extends her arms
to the needy.” She does all this, we are told, because she fears
the Lord. While charm and beauty are wonderful traits to have, they
are fleeting and last only for awhile, but fear of the Lord, that is
to be praised! This woman fears the Lord because she loves Him, and
it is that love that prompts her to use the gifts God has given her
(including, but not limited to, being good at spinning wool, making
clothing, and simply being kind). These gifts, again, are not used
to benefit only herself, but to help her husband, her family, and
those in need around her. Through all that, she also gives greater
glory to God.
In the Gospel today, Jesus tells us the Parable
of the Talents. Here, talents are a type of coin or currency used at
the time, but the parable has long been used as symbolic of how we
are to use our God given talents. I was talking with priest friend
of mine not too long ago about this passage and he was telling me
that whenever this parable comes up he always feels sorry for the
last guy in the parable: the one who is given only one coin, which he
buries in the ground. I had to agree that I felt sorry for him as
well. Each of the men were given the coins according to their
abilities, we are told. The fact that the man got only one talent
tells us the master didn't think very highly of the man's financial
abilities. He didn't expect very much from him and so entrusted very
little to him. He seems to set the man up for failure by giving him
so little to work with. So the man is quite aware, I'm sure, that
his master doesn't think much of his abilities and very likely he is
also aware that his financial abilities were lacking. Combine this
with his knowledge that his master is a demanding person, as he
explains, and it is really not that surprising that he buries his
talent out of fear. He allowed his fear to get the best of him and
it dictated to him what he was to do with his one talent. Instead of
using it to benefit his master and the other servants, and perhaps
even benefiting others in the community where he would have tried to
invest his talent, he chooses to only hide it.
The lesson for all of us is to not let our own
fears get the best of us. I don't know how often I've heard from
people who tell me, “Father, I would love to teach religion, but I
just don't know the faith well enough.” Or, “I would love to
help with music but I'm not a good singer”. I often want to tell
people they are being a bit hard on themselves. Don't let fear drive
you to burying your talents in the ground or keeping them to
yourself. Don't worry if you're virtuous enough or good enough like
the woman in Proverbs. We are called to use our talents; we are not
called to use them necessarily perfectly. Let us do what we can for
the benefit of others and to glorify the Father.
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