WEBVTT 00:00:00.270 --> 00:00:04.330 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:04.330 --> 00:00:12.650 of the Holy Spirit. This is the time of year 00:00:12.650 --> 00:00:15.830 we'd be getting ready for our annual meeting. 00:00:19.129 --> 00:00:21.089 We'd be looking at the budget, which we are. 00:00:23.190 --> 00:00:26.149 And I have to say, I'm so proud of this parish. 00:00:30.699 --> 00:00:36.700 Good stewards of what God has given you to support 00:00:36.700 --> 00:00:38.960 your parish, to support the work of the parish 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:42.060 and of the church. Reminds me of a joke which 00:00:42.060 --> 00:00:44.640 has nothing to do with me, but so you're clear, 00:00:44.700 --> 00:00:50.920 I'm not asking for anything. A church was doing 00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:56.560 its annual finances and the pastor saw them, 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:01.170 saw the finances. And he went to the board members 00:01:01.170 --> 00:01:08.569 and said, I see that I didn't get a raise. Like 00:01:08.569 --> 00:01:11.069 he said, I'm not asking for anything for myself 00:01:11.069 --> 00:01:17.549 here. And the board members said, yes, that's 00:01:17.549 --> 00:01:19.890 right. And the preacher says, well, I'm just 00:01:19.890 --> 00:01:23.530 a poor preacher. And the president of the council 00:01:23.530 --> 00:01:28.599 said, we know, we hear you every week. So I will 00:01:28.599 --> 00:01:35.459 endeavor to let the words of the Lord speak for 00:01:35.459 --> 00:01:44.239 themselves. We listen to an exhortation, a sermon, 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:52.519 a criticism, a judgment from the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:01:54.120 --> 00:01:57.219 What you heard comes from chapter 25 of the Gospel 00:01:57.219 --> 00:01:59.620 of St. Matthew, and don't you ever forget it. 00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:04.159 What's coming next? What explains this particular 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:08.860 gospel? In our Bibles, there's a chapter heading, 00:02:08.939 --> 00:02:12.659 and it says, The Parable of the Talents. And 00:02:12.659 --> 00:02:19.620 then it says, The Parable of the Sheep and the 00:02:19.620 --> 00:02:22.400 Goats. But it doesn't say that in the Bible. 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:29.000 That's added by publishers. This parable you 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:33.879 heard is connected and explained by the next 00:02:33.879 --> 00:02:35.919 parable, which is the parable of the sheep and 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:44.560 the goats. We rightly hang on to words that describe 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:47.479 our Savior, words that he himself said, the way, 00:02:47.659 --> 00:02:50.780 the truth, and the life. We call him our Savior. 00:02:52.620 --> 00:02:56.680 We call him the lover of mankind. This is good, 00:02:56.819 --> 00:03:00.639 isn't it? Because this is a true thing. It's 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:05.500 not a description. It's what he is. We call him 00:03:05.500 --> 00:03:07.840 the shepherd. We call him the prince of peace. 00:03:08.919 --> 00:03:12.500 All wonderful things. But something that's less 00:03:12.500 --> 00:03:18.780 popular is that he is the judge. He will judge 00:03:18.780 --> 00:03:24.280 everything. And we confess this in the creed. 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:27.819 He will come again to judge the living and the 00:03:27.819 --> 00:03:36.580 dead. This parable is about that. It's challenging. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:44.759 I probably wouldn't want to hear it. But here 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:49.680 it is. The church says, listen to this as you're 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:54.509 getting ready for Lent. This parable is a story 00:03:54.509 --> 00:04:00.389 of what the Savior will do at the end. The Gospel 00:04:00.389 --> 00:04:03.770 comes, the reading comes from just before he 00:04:03.770 --> 00:04:08.789 is arrested. Judgment. Now, we might hear this 00:04:08.789 --> 00:04:12.169 parable as only some kind of moral story about 00:04:12.169 --> 00:04:19.540 a working hard, good investments return. on capital, 00:04:19.819 --> 00:04:23.500 sort of an explanation, a Christian version of 00:04:23.500 --> 00:04:30.199 capitalism. If Mark Twain or Ben Franklin had 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:32.300 said these words, that would have been true. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:39.279 If you win the lottery, how would you invest 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:43.459 this? How would you get a good return? I read 00:04:43.459 --> 00:04:46.220 last week, about a week and a half ago, someone 00:04:46.220 --> 00:04:49.779 won. the megabucks or whatever lottery it was, 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:53.459 it was a billion dollars. Of course, the government 00:04:53.459 --> 00:04:58.180 gets 40 % of that right off the top. And it turns 00:04:58.180 --> 00:05:04.600 out that 70 % of people that win a lottery file 00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:09.300 for bankruptcy within a few years. It's not good. 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:15.259 So the parable isn't about that. The parable... 00:05:16.110 --> 00:05:19.009 It's about the talents that are given to each 00:05:19.009 --> 00:05:22.709 servant by the Lord. Talenta, which is a form 00:05:22.709 --> 00:05:27.689 of money. And Jesus doesn't say, the master in 00:05:27.689 --> 00:05:32.350 the story doesn't say, here's your life. Make 00:05:32.350 --> 00:05:37.430 the most of it. Just do it. Be all you can be, 00:05:37.509 --> 00:05:41.149 or whatever slogan you want to plug in. Live 00:05:41.149 --> 00:05:49.379 your dream. The Lord entrusts the talents. He 00:05:49.379 --> 00:05:52.259 doesn't give them. This is not like the lottery. 00:05:54.740 --> 00:06:00.959 We are asked at the end to show how we have multiplied 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:08.620 those talents. We belong to God. He isn't here 00:06:08.620 --> 00:06:12.259 to enslave us. He doesn't need slaves. He is 00:06:12.259 --> 00:06:21.740 here. To make us as great as we can be. Christians 00:06:21.740 --> 00:06:24.579 need to be convinced that our lives, everything 00:06:24.579 --> 00:06:28.160 in our lives, everything we do, everything we 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:32.759 have, including our finances, it all belongs 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:36.279 to God. Why? Because he entrusts us with it. 00:06:36.500 --> 00:06:39.639 We haven't been given these things. The word 00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:47.660 in the gospel parable isn't Isn't giving over, 00:06:47.899 --> 00:06:56.699 but it's entrusting. Five for this one. Two for 00:06:56.699 --> 00:07:03.920 this one. One for another one. Remember, who 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:09.839 says these words? It's he that was crucified 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:15.819 and buried and rose. and ascended, and he shall 00:07:15.819 --> 00:07:20.540 come again in glory to judge the living and the 00:07:20.540 --> 00:07:29.220 dead. But he is not gone. Not for us. Perhaps 00:07:29.220 --> 00:07:31.079 for the rest of the world that does not know 00:07:31.079 --> 00:07:35.420 Christ, he is gone. For us, remember, brothers 00:07:35.420 --> 00:07:41.120 and sisters, that when he returns, he will return 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:45.740 and every knee shall bow. But what did we just 00:07:45.740 --> 00:07:48.459 sing at Christmastime in Theophany? God is with 00:07:48.459 --> 00:07:52.860 us. God is with us. And the church is his body 00:07:52.860 --> 00:07:55.399 and he is his head. We are members of his body. 00:07:55.620 --> 00:07:58.560 At the liturgy we say Christ is in our midst. 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:03.680 And the liturgy is the kingdom of heaven that 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:07.300 we have put on Christ. St. Paul says to put on 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:12.699 kindness and long -suffering and humility, peace. 00:08:13.470 --> 00:08:17.189 These are all gifts and talents from the Lord. 00:08:17.670 --> 00:08:22.370 This is what we have been given. Yes, he will 00:08:22.370 --> 00:08:25.089 come again for all to see in glory. It is his 00:08:25.089 --> 00:08:30.610 glorious appearing. But he is here. He is here. 00:08:30.689 --> 00:08:32.830 Where two or three are in the midst. And in the 00:08:32.830 --> 00:08:36.710 church, he is here. For we are his members. His 00:08:36.710 --> 00:08:45.480 life continues in us. Judgment in this gospel 00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:50.500 probably inspires fear. We're waiting for the 00:08:50.500 --> 00:08:53.259 judgment and we're considering how much time 00:08:53.259 --> 00:08:57.519 I relate to the man with one talent. That's me. 00:09:00.500 --> 00:09:03.679 And you would think that we should be fearful, 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:06.379 but that was the problem of that man with the 00:09:06.379 --> 00:09:12.220 one talent. He was the only one condemned. And 00:09:12.220 --> 00:09:15.500 he was condemned. Why? He said, I was afraid 00:09:15.500 --> 00:09:22.539 of you. You're a hard man. Is Christ hard? Is 00:09:22.539 --> 00:09:27.860 he difficult? Is he demanding? My yoke is easy, 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:32.039 he says. My burden is light. He gives us the 00:09:32.039 --> 00:09:35.100 gift that we maybe forget about because we put 00:09:35.100 --> 00:09:38.179 it on the back burner because we forget how precious 00:09:38.720 --> 00:09:41.799 Time is, and maybe the most important gift we 00:09:41.799 --> 00:09:49.539 have, is time. You don't have tomorrow. Father 00:09:49.539 --> 00:09:51.480 Patrick Reardon, in a sermon I was listening 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:55.279 to recently, he says, most people think of tomorrow 00:09:55.279 --> 00:10:01.340 as a noun. Today, tomorrow. But tomorrow's not 00:10:01.340 --> 00:10:05.019 a thing. It's an idea. It's a concept. You can't 00:10:05.019 --> 00:10:08.960 grasp it. You can't touch it. We don't have it. 00:10:09.860 --> 00:10:13.679 We only have the nanosecond we're living in. 00:10:13.940 --> 00:10:18.559 And in that nanosecond, we are expected to do 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:22.700 something as Christians with it and not act out 00:10:22.700 --> 00:10:26.679 of fear like that man. What did he spend his 00:10:26.679 --> 00:10:29.340 time doing? He spent his time, he says, I buried 00:10:29.340 --> 00:10:32.559 the talent because I knew that you wanted it 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:36.509 back and I was afraid I'd lose it. He spent his 00:10:36.509 --> 00:10:40.409 time digging a hole in the earth, bearing what 00:10:40.409 --> 00:10:43.889 God had entrusted to him. Do you see the connection? 00:10:45.590 --> 00:10:49.269 To put something in the earth means that that's 00:10:49.269 --> 00:10:56.029 where he invested his life, just down here. He 00:10:56.029 --> 00:11:00.649 prepared for his grave, not for the resurrection. 00:11:01.450 --> 00:11:04.809 He spent his time digging rather than investing. 00:11:05.610 --> 00:11:10.389 How do we know, brothers and sisters, if we are 00:11:10.389 --> 00:11:16.230 multiplying the talents God has given us? I suggest 00:11:16.230 --> 00:11:19.809 you ask yourself this question. You heard the 00:11:19.809 --> 00:11:22.690 epistle today from Colossians. Read it again. 00:11:22.870 --> 00:11:25.909 Chapter 3. Colossians only has three chapters. 00:11:26.070 --> 00:11:28.629 It's extremely short. You can read it in 15 minutes. 00:11:28.690 --> 00:11:32.389 If you take your time and you do it in a meditative, 00:11:32.629 --> 00:11:36.639 prayerful way, It'll take you an hour, as it 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:39.899 should. You'll stop. You'll let the word sink 00:11:39.899 --> 00:11:43.100 into your heart. What did St. Paul say to us 00:11:43.100 --> 00:11:46.360 last week in Colossians? He says, when Christ, 00:11:46.460 --> 00:11:49.860 who is our Lord, appears, you will also appear 00:11:49.860 --> 00:11:52.960 with him in glory. Therefore, put away these 00:11:52.960 --> 00:12:02.039 sins. Fornication, lying, unjust works, and so 00:12:02.039 --> 00:12:06.159 on and so on. And today he says, What to put 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:15.100 on. He says to put on meekness, humility, long 00:12:15.100 --> 00:12:21.299 -suffering, peace. But above all, he says, put 00:12:21.299 --> 00:12:26.100 on love. Now, mercy, long -suffering, humility, 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:32.820 peace, and love. You can't fake it. We can't. 00:12:34.310 --> 00:12:38.230 Manufacture it. It comes from God. He has entrusted 00:12:38.230 --> 00:12:43.370 us with all these things. Look in yourself. Let 00:12:43.370 --> 00:12:46.409 each of us examine ourselves in the little time 00:12:46.409 --> 00:12:51.029 we have in this life. We don't have tomorrow. 00:12:51.909 --> 00:12:55.070 Today, look at yourself, brothers and sisters. 00:12:55.169 --> 00:13:00.570 Let us each examine. Is there mercy? Do we forgive 00:13:00.570 --> 00:13:04.389 one another? Is there long suffering? Is there 00:13:04.389 --> 00:13:07.289 humility? Do we know what humility is? If you 00:13:07.289 --> 00:13:10.730 have it, you'll know it. Do you have the peace 00:13:10.730 --> 00:13:16.129 of heart reigning in your body, your soul, your 00:13:16.129 --> 00:13:22.889 mind? Have you put on love for all? If you have 00:13:22.889 --> 00:13:29.549 done those things, then you and I will hear those 00:13:29.549 --> 00:13:33.519 longed -for words. You have been faithful with 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:38.039 a few things. Now you will be master of many 00:13:38.039 --> 00:13:42.779 things. Enter into the joy of your Lord. Well 00:13:42.779 --> 00:13:44.679 done, good and faithful servant.