Have we buried our God-given talents in the ground or have we used them to make a difference in the lives of others?

Today’s scripture readings prepare us for the end of the year and challenge us to understand our life in terms of its ultimate purpose.  On this the second last Sunday of the liturgical year, our prayer centers around the accountability the Lord will ultimately ask of each of us.  In terms of the Gospel parable of the various talents given to the three servants, we too have been generous recipients of blessings and talents from our loving God.  Have we buried our talents in the ground or have we used them to make a difference in the lives of others?

The second Scripture reading from St Paul tells us the Day of the Lord is coming like a thief in the night.  We know not the day or the hour.  But what really matters on the Day of the Lord is not weather is know the day or the hour but what we are doing with the graces and talents that have been given to us.

In today’s Gospel, the master went away for a while after entrusting his servants with various talents.

For us as well, Jesus appears to have gone away for a while after he ascended into heaven.  He does not leave us orphans.  We have been blessed with talents and blessings.  Our prayerful question is one of accountability.  What are we doing with the talents God has given us?

For me, I was baptized at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church when I was just three weeks old.  At age 14,  I entered St. Andrew's Seminary and began my 12 year path in the seminary that led to my ordination to the priesthood on June 1, 1968.  Bishop Fulton Sheen ordained me a priest.  

As important to me as the day of my ordination was, a far greater blessing for me was the day of my Baptism.  I received the life of Christ for the first time.  I was welcomed into the family of the Church.  I became God’s beloved son.  I was missioned to share the love of God that was given to me.

For many of you who have celebrated the Sacrament of Marriage and the blessings you enjoy as a husband or wife, and as a dad or a mom, yet it was on the day of your baptism that you received your most significant talent – the life of Christ Jesus that is within you.

The question for all of us is have we buried the love of God within us or is the mystery of God’s love that is within us the defining talent of who we are as a disciple of Jesus?

As we fast forward to the present moment in our lives, many years may have passed since the day of your baptism.  What kind of accountability will we give back to Jesus on the coming of the Day of the Lord for us?

Have we recognized and claimed and valued our God-given giftedness?  Do we live our lives knowing we are God’s beloved sons, God’s beloved daughters?  Is the source of our confidence and self-esteem flow from the reality that we have within ourselves the wellspring of eternal life?  God goes with us 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Yes, we all live busy lives.  We are consumed by so much stuff to do; we all have our own set of fears and anxieties; we have trouble balancing the priorities of our lives.  The challenge for all of us to place God first in our lives.  It’s too easy to bury our baptismal talent in the midst of a life that is filled with activity from one moment to the next.

This past week on Thursday I was at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore as one of our seminarians, Jorge Ramirez, was receiving the rite of candidacy for the clerical state – an important step on his way to priesthood.  It made for a bit of a hectic schedule but the challenge for me and all of us is to keep a center to our lives in the midst of life’s busyness -- that center is found in the mystery of God’s love that is within us.  May all of us keep our inner compass of leading God-centered lives

I must say that I am at the stage in the life cycle that I really have to work at it to stay in reasonably good physical shape.  It doesn't just happen naturally anymore.  So, I try to stay committed to regular exercise and watch my diet.

So too, in the spiritual life, we need to remain committed to using the talents and the blessings we have been given.  It just doesn't happen naturally.  The Gospel message speaks of accountability.

So, we ask ourselves have we buried in the ground any of our God-given talents – perhaps out of fear that something might go wrong.  So we do nothing.  This is the story of the servant in the Gospel who did nothing with the talent given to him?  In what ways have we not gone out of our comfort zone to reach out in the service of others?

Where have we doubled the investment that God has made in us in the blessings we have received?  We can rightly say that being here at Mass is our beautiful way of giving thanks to the Lord our God for the blessings of life?

But in all honesty, this one hour a week is only the beginning of what the Lord asks of us.  Love is the first requirement of ourselves as disciples of Jesus?  For example in our parish life, we have developed six leadership teams in the various areas of ministry.  We would most welcome you using your talents on one of these leadership teams.

In the Gospel parable, we are told that we cannot just sit back and wait.  We are called to give and to share the talents that have been given to us.  We are called to serve not only in the life of the Church, but in our community.  May we continue to develop outreach initiatives that serve our wider community.

The grace we ask for this weekend to for us to make an investment in our Church, an investment in the service of others, and, most of all, may we make an investment in God -- the God who has loved us into life.