Shout out to all our committed and eager liturgy ministry volunteers for allowing us to make the smooth transition to indoor Masses this past weekend! It felt like Day 1 again, seeing so many of you – our faithful parishioners and friends – joining us around the Eucharistic banquet. Thank you for sharing your time, and for being faithful stewards of the talent entrusted to you. Such joy and blessing!

One of Jesus’ most significant parables regarding work is narrated in the Gospel this weekend according to the tradition of Matthew. A rich man delegates the management of his wealth to his servants, much as investors in today’s markets do. He gives five talents to the first servant, two talents to the second, and one talent to the third. Two of the servants earn 100 percent returns by trading with the funds, but the third servant hides the money in the ground and earns nothing. The rich man returns, rewards the two who made money, but severely punishes the servant who did nothing.

The meaning of the parable extends far beyond financial investments, though, and it resonates to our lives today as a Church. God has given each person a wide variety of gifts, and He expects us to employ those gifts in His service. It is not acceptable merely to put those gifts on a closet shelf and ignore them. Like the three servants, we do not have gifts of the same degree. The return God expects of us is commensurate with the gifts we have been given. The servant who received one talent was not condemned for failing to reach the five-talent to two-talent goal; he was condemned because he did nothing with what he was given!

We are reminded today that we are to use whatever talents we have been given to the best of our ability for God’s glory and not waste them, and when we have done that, we are on an equal playing field with other faithful, trustworthy stewards of God.

In prayers,

Father Erick