33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, A November 19, 2023
Fr. Alexander Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
Every now and then, someone asks me if the world is going to end soon. Just Friday, in fact, a woman at a store asked me that question based on what is happening in the middle east right now. I gave her my standard answer: “every generation of Christians thinks the end is near.” I put it that way to make a few points: First is that worrying about the end of the world isn’t new. Secondly, everyone who thought the world was about to end has been wrong. Jesus said no one knows when, so we should be humble enough to not focus on it.
Third, it is to make the point that the “end times” have been here since the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost. We live in the end times, in the overlap between this world and the next. We ought to live in this world with the constant awareness that we already belong to the next. That’s why I focused on preparation for death last week.
Here’s a different reason not to worry about the world ending. St. Paul tells the Thessalonians that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night. When people are saying, ‘Peace and security,’ then sudden disaster comes upon them.” What do you think? Are a whole bunch of people going around “peace and security” right now? Kind of the opposite, no? The fact that so many people expect the end is, to me, a good sign that maybe it’s not so close. Sure, the world could end at any moment, but it’s foolish to speculate about when or to live in fear.
Instead, we should consider what we know for certain: Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell – the four “Last Things” – are very near. Even if the world doesn’t end for another billion years, your world will end relatively soon and you don’t know when. So, get ready! And the way you do that is by making the most of what God has given you as this parable makes clear.
To clarify a little, the word “talent” in this story is not natural ability. It’s actual money. The best analogy is a gold bar. So, the master leaves a bunch of money with his servants and goes on a journey. When he comes back, he expects them to have put that money to good use. We are the servants; the master is Jesus. The “talents” are God’s gifts to us, including the modern meaning of talent, but ultimately, they are a symbol of the divine treasure entrusted to us.
The first and most important meaning of talent-as-divine-treasure is the gift of faith and the grace of God. Like the parable of the ten virgins and the oil, what Jesus says here tells us that grace is a real thing, that it is valuable, and that it can increase through our efforts. The initial “deposit” of grace is a gift given through faith just as the servants are given the talents. But then we are responsible for increasing that gift. How? By putting it to work! Money buried in the ground does nothing. If the grace of God never goes beyond a baptismal certificate buried in a drawer somewhere, then it will not grow. And when the master returns – either at the end of the world or when you personally die – your buried baptismal certificate will not be enough to save you!
Nothing new here, y’all. Pray. Pray a lot, pray with effort, and learn how to pray better. Read scripture, study the faith, and talk about the faith to believers and non-believers. Do sacrificial acts of charity, not just convenient ones. Practice penance and self-denial without telling anyone. Receive the sacraments reverently and frequently.
Don’t worry! Do not be afraid! Unlike actual money that you can lose on a bad investment, you can’t lose divine treasure by using it. As long as you try, it will grow. The last servant isn’t punished because he failed, but because he was too afraid to try. God wants sincerity and effort; that is not always the same thing as success.
Then, yes, there are other meanings of the talents. Your personal skills, your actual money, your power and influence, your time – you can use these in service of God and so increase your heavenly treasure. One gift I’d like to briefly focus on is our masculinity or femininity.
The first reading is from the book of proverbs, which describes the worthy wife, depicting her as fruitful, wise, and even good at making money. It’s both a literal piece of advice and a symbol of the Church. The Church receives the deposit of faith from Jesus Christ and allows it to unfold and grow through reflection and evangelization. Just so, a worthy wife fosters the growth of what she receives. Women, even if your husband is not Christ-like, even if you do not have a husband or children, you have the capacity for reflecting the motherhood of the Church. You have the capacity for fostering physical or spiritual growth in others. Married, unmarried, widowed; all women share this capacity in a way men do not, even when doing the same tasks as them.
Married men, take to heart what the bible says here. Invest in your wife. Don’t take her for granted, neglect her, or treat her like a trophy. She can transform what you invest in her, turning a house into a home, love into children, and money into the wealth of a shared life. And just as God continues to invest in the Church despite our faults and sins, so a man ought to continually invest in and suffer for his wife despite her faults. For me and for other men who do not marry, this call to fatherhood and husbandry can manifest in the pursuit of truth and holiness, in ministry and service, or in a personal investment in particular people and communities. Man or woman, none of us should bury the treasures of God or squander them on purely selfish satisfaction. Invest in God, who is perfect. Invest in people and communities despite or even because of their brokenness. You have been given a great treasure by being made in the image of God. You have been the treasure of faith and grace. You have been given treasure in the opportunity to work for the Glory of God and the good of human beings – not “humanity” general, but particular human beings. Make the most of that treasure because, at an hour you do not expect, your world will end. One day all of creation will see what you did with the treasure entrusted to you. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Will that heart be forever in the light of God’s love? Or the darkness outside? For now at least, that choice is still ours.