Saturday 21st Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Matthew 25:14-30

Using Our Talents Wisely

Building Our Life

                                                                                                                       

Lots of work going on at the Tennessee homestead!   Landscaping, planting flowers and shrubbery (not the Monty Python type), paving walkways and footpaths, grading and leveling the driveway!  So much happening!  And, from my perspective, so much craftsmanship, such attention to detail and precision! You only have to watch them place each stone in position, careful to ensure that it’s level and fits precisely to realize how talented these guys are.  I notice how much time and effort they put into those first couple of pavers and I realize that, if you don’t get the first stones right, then the rest will all be out of whack.  One wrong measurement at the beginning and everything that follows will be off!

If only we put as much time and effort into our daily lives, if only we used our time and talent to their best advantage!  Too often we build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort.  We get lazy, we get forgetful and distracted.  And some days we just give up, thinking we don’t have the will or the right tools for the job.  Sometimes we doubt our abilities, our TALENTS!  And some days we just choose to take the easy path and ignore our God-given gifts!

And other times, we follow the path of those 2 servants who invested their talents and gained a profit.  They took a risk, a leap of faith, and saw their talents increase.  And that first servant?  He was afraid to lose what he had!  He gave in to fear instead of faith. 

The lesson is clear!  In order to ‘share the Master’s joy”, we must use our God-given talents, not bury them in the sand.  We must work diligently and faithfully and, yes, sometimes even take a risk in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  Keep the faith!  Share the faith!

Once again violence and bloodshed reared their ugly heads on Wednesday morning. Two children were killed and another 17 wounded while they were attending Mass in Minneapolis.  All this in the wake of multiple ‘shooter on campus’ alerts at several colleges across the nation.  Senseless!  Unimaginable!  Heart-breaking!  Of course, we send our thoughts and prayers to the victims and families during this awful tragedy!  But we need to do more!  In light of today’s Gospel, we must use our God-given talents to fight against violence, to work for peace and justice, to build a world where no child has to fear for their safety!

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