Fr. JC Maximilian

Today’s Gospel reading is one that we have all heard quite often during our lives.  I probably could ask any number of you to get up here and give a homily on this parable; even off the cuff.  Most likely we would get something about not neglecting what God has given us, but making the most out of the talents and gifts that we all have from God.  After all, that was why the wicked, lazy servant was cast out.  Right?

First, I think it will be helpful to clarify what a “talent,” as used in the Gospel, really is.  In this parable we often think of a talent as being just that, a gift or skill that God has given us.  Or maybe, since the Master in the story talks about putting the talent that the lazy servant received into the bank to get interest, we realize that Jesus is speaking about money.  Unfortunately, since we do not use “talent” as a unit of money anymore, we often just substitute a unit we are familiar with for “talent.”  So we might hear that one servant received $5, the other $2, and the third $1.  Or because those amounts seem too low, we might multiply them by a hundred or maybe even a thousand.

That does not even come close.  A “talent” was approximately 15 YEARS worth of salary.  Yes, I said YEARS worth.  So, think about how much you make each year, and multiply that by 15, and you have one talent.  As a priest, I don’t make that much, but even by my salary, one talent would be an extremely large, generous gift.

Let’s get back to the parable; why did the one servant fail?  Of course, the Master suggests that it was because he was wicked and lazy, and undoubtedly there is truth in that, however I think there was another important reason for the servant’s failure.

He had a wrong idea of his master.  It seems that the servant was afraid of his Master.  The parable tells us that he saw his Master as a very demanding and scary person, even taking what did not belong to him.  The servant was afraid of losing his Master’s money and being punished.  The servant might even have been angry at his Master because he was jealous of his fellow servants because the Master gave them more than he received.  His fear and self-centered greed seems to have paralyzed him, and he did not accomplish the mission that his Master entrusted to him.

How are we like this failed servant?  Do we ever have a wrong idea about God, our Master?  I think that if we are really honest with ourselves, we can see how we are just like this failed servant, and have a wrong idea about God.  It all goes back to the Garden.  The real deception in the Garden of Eden was not about the nature of the Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  No, the real deception was about how to view God.  The serpent, convinced Adam and Eve into thinking that God was harsh and unreasonable.  If we think of God in these terms then it provides an easy excuse for giving in to laziness and self-pity, something our fallen nature loves to do.  Fear of God becomes just that, fear and trembling about being punished by a God who is just waiting for us to screw up so that He can land on us.

Is this how we really should think about God?  Of course not!  Jesus is not a harsh and unjust master; He is a good, generous, and powerful King!  He proved that by selflessly suffering and dying on the Cross for US!  Jesus also proved it by the clarity of his teaching, like the revelation He gives us in this parable, a crystal-clear, unambiguous explanation of the meaning of life.  He shows us that our life-mission is to take our God-given gifts and put them to good use, shaping the world around us as Christ would have us.  Our destiny, He shows us, depends on our making a decent effort to fulfill that mission.

Our parish’s patron, St. Theresa of Lisieux, is a wonderful witness to the right idea that we should have about God.  This is the key to her “little way,” that has so touched the world.  St. Theresa teaches us to have utter, complete, total confidence in God, a perfect Father whose goodness is absolutely unlimited.  She once wrote: “One has to recognize one’s nothingness and to expect to get everything from God, just as a child looks to its father for everything….  Even if I had on my conscience every sin it is possible to commit, I should fling myself, my heart broken with sorrow, in to the arms of Jesus, for I know how he loves the prodigal child who returns to him.”

Believe it or not, this is what the Church means when it teaches us that “Fear of the Lord” is one of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  It is not a fear of being punished by a harsh God, but rather the fear of causing God sorrow by my sins, of disappointing Him.  Unlike the servant in the parable, we should not fear being punished by God, but rather fear disappointing and being ungrateful to God who has shown us such unimaginable love and mercy.

St. Theresa’s idea of God was so magnificent, and not just abstract and theoretical.  She confesses in her autobiography that for years she often fell asleep during prayers and even after receiving Holy Communion.  She comments on this by saying, “I ought to be very upset, but I’m not, for I know that children are loved just as much by their parents when they are asleep as when they are awake.”  That’s the right idea of God, and that’s the idea God wants us to have.

So, how can we get this right idea about God?  How can we purify our minds and hearts from the wrong ideas about God that we are too often bombarded with?  One of the best ways is to spend time with Christ Jesus in the Eucharist.  “During Mass, at the words of consecration spoken by the priest over the bread and wine, Christ himself becomes truly present.  The fact that Jesus has chosen to remain with us in this way reminds us of what kind of a God he really is. He doesn’t want to frighten us with His power, intimidate us with His knowledge, or dazzle us with His glory.  Instead, He wants to strengthen our souls with His divine food, just as natural food strengthens our bodies – that’s what Holy Communion is all about” (“My Homily for the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time [A],” Homily Packs, www.epriest.com, Nov. 16, 2008).

Jesus also wants to accompany us, to listen to us, to simply stay with us.   And so, after Mass, the Hosts that haven’t been received in Communion are kept in the Tabernacle.  For the rest of the week, Jesus waits there, patiently, humbly, quietly.  He is thinking of us all the time, continuing to offer Himself as a sacrifice to the Father for our sake.  And we can come into the Church and visit Him at any time, for five minutes or for five hours, sharing our joys and sorrows, begging for His help, praying and meditating, or simply sitting with Him and letting His grace penetrate our minds and hearts.  Receiving Holy Communion frequently and frequent visits to the Eucharist in the tabernacle heal our suspicions of God, gradually transforming us into better followers of Christ, just as the words of consecration transform bread and wine into His Body and Blood.

Today let’s thank Jesus for giving us this constant reminder of God’s goodness and generosity, the Eucharist, and let’s promise Him that from now on we will use it better than ever.