Go to any local hardware store and you will find nails in all shapes and sizes from brads to spikes. As simple as a nail may be, its mission is important. As one nursery rhyme puts it, “For the want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for the want of a shoe, the horse was lost; for the want of a horse, the soldier was lost; for the want of a soldier, the battle was lost; for the want of a battle, the war was lost.” The lowly nail keeps things together.
What can be said about the value of a nail can also be said about the value of each person’s talent in the scheme of life. Every person, blessed with talents by God, is expected to do something toward making a difference in this world if the kingdom of God is to be realized.
The servant who returned with only one talent was punished for making no use of what he had been given. Have you been in his shoes? How often do we hesitate to act out of fear that we will fail or that others could do a better job? Many people say, “Not me,” convinced that what little they could do wouldn’t make much difference anyway. As the lazy servant discovered, holding back did not good for anyone, especially for him. The king was counting on everyone to do something.
In any parish, many of its members excuse themselves from participating in its different ministries, convinced that their gifts are too modest to make any difference. Yet their gifts of time, talent and treasure are as important to God and the building of his kingdom as the missing nail is to the soldier in battle. To hold back on what we have to offer is to become the missing nail that is sorely needed at this point in time.
Ultimately, the servant punished himself and so do we when we hoard what we have. Years ago, I read an article that made the point that those who have a strong love of heaven have always worked the hardest for a better world. Conversely, we can deduce that those who aren’t so motivated to improve the world we live in really don’t have much love for heaven either.
Blessed Pope John Paul II once puzzled people in attendance at a general audience in Rome when he noted that heaven isn’t a physical reality but a state of the being. Heaven, he said, is neither an abstraction nor a place in the clouds. Instead, heaven is a living personal relationship with the Trinity.
If we use our talents to work for the reign of God in this lifetime, we can look forward to hearing those happy words in today’s gospel, “”Well done, my good and faithful servant. Come, share your master’s joy.” On the other hand, if we choose to hold back, we do little to deepen our relationship with God. We shortchange ourselves and may get the same rebuke that the hesitant servant received. When Jesus comes as a thief in the night, can we really expect him to invite us to share in the joy of what has been brought about without any effort on our part?
The lesson of this parable is obvious to me. We all have some part in bringing about God’s plan for our world. To others, what we can contribute may seem small, like a brad, yet even a brad, any homebuilder will tell you, is vital in the right place. God is asking us to use the talents, that is, the gifts we have been given and to put them to the service of God and others, not bury them in the deepest recesses of our being.
Last week, the gospel spoke of lamps, and we reflected on “this little light of mine.” I observed how if one candle dispels the darkness, imagine how bright many candles would be. Fred McCarthy went one step further, “If everyone lit just one little candle, what a bright world this would be!” If every one of you would take the time to wander through the ministry fair and engage your talents in someway, imagine how much more this parish can do toward building up God’s kingdom.
When we hear the word, talent, we think of a person’s innate abilities, but the origin of this word can be traced back to this parable. In biblical times, a talent was a vast sum of money, equal to 6000 days of wages for the average peasant.
As you consider how to invest your talents in our parish, I urge you to consider both your abilities and your treasures. Hopefully you spent time the past week reflecting on them and today you are ready to make a commitment.
To help us with our future planning, we ask that you make a commitment to share your treasure. Ideally, we should be returning to God 10% of our income; that is the biblical notion of tithing. We are urged to give half of that to the parish and the other half to other charities. If you aren’t there yet, consider taking another step in that direction.
If you haven’t completed a card, pick one up now and take this opportunity to fill it out. On the reverse side, you will find a chart to help you calculate what a fair and sacrificial pledge should be.
You can make your contributions through electronic fund transfer from your checking or savings account. This can be arranged once you provide the necessary deposit slip.
If you are sitting there, still hesitant to fill out the treasure card, consider this: the precious fragility of life should prompt us to use our gifts now before it is too late. Jesus wants us all to give and to grow by using our talents, that is, both our treasures and our abilities, for the good of others, not just for ourselves. Even the mediocre use of one’s talents will merit his invitation, “Well done, my good and faithful servant…Come, share your master’s joy.”