The gospel this Sunday is familiar to a lot of us.<\/strong><\/p>\nWe tend to think it\u2019s all about ability, or talent \u2014 what special gifts God has given you. Certainly, that\u2019s a big part of it. But I think there is more to the parable of the talents than just a lesson in using your ability to sing or dance or juggle.<\/p>\n
First, it\u2019s important to remember that in Jesus\u2019s day a talent was something concrete: it was a unit of weight, about eighty pounds, and when used for money, it was the value of that weight in silver. A talent was a way of measuring something of great value. So Christ is speaking of something specific and very familiar to his audience.<\/p>\n
But there is a second element in the parable: it is what you\u00a0do<\/em>\u00a0with that most precious commodity.<\/p>\nThe artist\u00a0Eric Fischl\u2014a painter, sculptor and printmaker\u2014once compared psychoanalysis with the creation of art. Fischl noted that both professions have something in common, because they require exploring the subconscious. But Fischl added: \u201cThere is a fundamental difference between the two. In psychoanalysis, you try to retain a discovery. In art, once a thing has been made, you let it go.\u201d<\/p>\n
To my mind, that idea is key not just to art, but also to the gospel and, by extension, our lives.<\/strong>\u00a0And\u00a0that<\/em>\u00a0is what the parable of the talents is really about. It is taking the greatest treasure that God has given us \u2013 his Word, his Gospel, his message of salvation \u2014 and sharing it. Living it.<\/p>\nLetting it go into the world.<\/p>\n
In this parable, each servant does something with the talent he\u2019s given. But the ones who prosper, who are rewarded, don\u2019t keep it to themselves. They share it. They invest it. They reap more with it.<\/p>\n
In a sense, like an artist, they let it go.<\/p>\n
But then there\u2019s the servant who doesn\u2019t put his talent to work. He is so frightened, he digs a hole and hides it, where no one can see it, and no one can find it. As a result, it doesn\u2019t appreciate in value. It goes unused.<\/p>\n
The question before us:<\/p>\n
What good is the Good News if we keep it ourselves?<\/strong><\/p>\nChrist\u2019s message\u2014the Good News of compassion, of mercy, of justice, of hope\u2014 is meant to be lived. It is meant to be shared. It is meant to be spread to others.<\/p>\n
Are we doing that? Or are we too frightened of what that might involve?<\/p>\n
Again and again, we hear in the gospels these simple words: \u201cDo not be afraid.\u201d In this parable, we see the consequences of being afraid.<\/p>\n
But the call to live the gospel is a call, in fact, to be fearless.<\/p>\n
In St. Matthew\u2019s Gospel, this passage is the final parable before The Passion, the last lesson. As the master gave talents to his servants, Christ gives this one last parable to his followers. Jesus is pointing toward the last chapter of his earthly life\u2014and, really, the last chapter of ours. His final advice: use what you have and make more.<\/p>\n
Make everything I\u2019ve told you matter.<\/strong><\/p>\nThis message is about using time\u2014and it is timely.\u00a0 All this month, we have been reminded: life has its limits. We began November by honoring\u00a0all saints and all souls. Every day here in this parish, we have been remembering our beloved dead. We announce their names at Mass. We see this open book here by the altar and recall those we have lost\u2014parents, friends, neighbors, children. This gospel looks at the sum of our life\u2019s work and asks, \u201cWhat have you done with the time you\u2019ve had?\u201d It stands as a challenge to us\u2014 a call\u00a0to live with purpose. To use what we have been given. Because there will be a reckoning. We have to give an accounting.<\/p>\n
I think of that moment at the end of \u201cSaving Private Ryan,\u201d where the dying captain looks into the eyes of Private Ryan\u2014a young man for whom so many had sacrificed so much. And the captain whispers with his last breath, \u201cEarn this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earn this. <\/em><\/p>\nJesus gave his life for our salvation. We can\u2019t possibly give as much back in return. But we can<\/em> make what we do matter. We can carry Christ into the world. We can love others as Christ loved us.<\/p>\nWe can spend our days trying to live out the gospel we heard at the beginning of this month: the Beatitudes. Being people who are merciful. Who hunger and thirst for justice. Who are peacemakers.<\/p>\n
We can make of our lives\u2014with whatever God has given us\u2014gifts.<\/strong><\/p>\nWe can make them works of art.<\/p>\n
Eric Fischl managed to sum up a powerful idea about talent\u2014and, without realizing it, about Christian love.<\/p>\n
The fact is that each of us is called to create something beautiful and new with what we have been given.<\/p>\n
And each of us has to give it away. To let it go. To use the \u201ctalent\u201d in our hands and in our hearts.<\/p>\n
In the end, that is what makes a masterpiece.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From the vault: my homily for this Sunday from 2014: The gospel this Sunday is familiar to a lot of us. We tend to think it\u2019s all about ability, or talent \u2014 what special gifts God has given you. Certainly, that\u2019s a big part of it. But I think there is more to the parable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":165917,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11252],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-254500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-open-mind"],"yoast_head":"\n
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