WEBVTT 00:00:02.669 --> 00:00:05.009 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:05.009 --> 00:00:08.810 of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Well, top of the morning 00:00:08.810 --> 00:00:15.330 to all of you. This rain is nothing. You have 00:00:15.330 --> 00:00:19.670 to live through a blizzard in the Midwest or 00:00:19.670 --> 00:00:24.710 a nor 'easter in New England to know what bad 00:00:24.710 --> 00:00:29.589 weather is. My family and I lived in the Boston 00:00:29.589 --> 00:00:39.560 area. in January of 1978, and 28 inches of snow. 00:00:41.340 --> 00:00:45.179 People weren't driving anywhere. If they had 00:00:45.179 --> 00:00:47.799 to go to the store, they'd ski to the store. 00:00:48.859 --> 00:00:53.439 That's what it was like. It was impassable. But 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:56.299 we still had some people that came to church 00:00:56.299 --> 00:01:00.039 on Sunday morning. So anyway, it's glad that 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:05.379 we're all here together, having said that. Today's 00:01:05.379 --> 00:01:10.439 gospel is a familiar one about talents, and the 00:01:10.439 --> 00:01:13.640 epistle has a strong message for us as well. 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:17.799 But before I get into those readings, I want 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:24.060 to ask a question of your pastor. Father, did 00:01:24.060 --> 00:01:28.299 you... choose today's date for the parish meeting 00:01:28.299 --> 00:01:34.579 because of the calendar or the liturgical calendar? 00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:38.280 Well, from years ago, I said it. No, no, no. 00:01:38.459 --> 00:01:41.280 Our annual meeting takes place on the first Sunday 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:44.620 of February. That's what I thought. But we couldn't 00:01:44.620 --> 00:01:46.680 have chosen... Thank you, Father. Yeah, I can't 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:51.159 plan that well. But we couldn't have chosen two 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:57.260 better readings before... parish meeting the 00:01:57.260 --> 00:02:02.519 talents familiar to us a talent was a weight 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:08.979 of metal and of course I've done this in years 00:02:08.979 --> 00:02:11.659 past but I figured well I'm going to do it again 00:02:11.659 --> 00:02:16.780 I looked it up and what how much is a talent 00:02:16.780 --> 00:02:22.620 well it's a weight of precious metal silver or 00:02:22.620 --> 00:02:28.500 gold And it varies from place to place and from 00:02:28.500 --> 00:02:31.599 century to century. It's like asking the question, 00:02:31.780 --> 00:02:36.300 how much is a dollar worth? A dollar in 2024? 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:44.860 Or a dollar in 1990? Or a dollar during the Depression? 00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:52.009 It varied. But it was a lot of money. heavy weight 00:02:52.009 --> 00:02:56.870 of silver or gold. Before the liturgy this morning, 00:02:56.990 --> 00:02:59.449 Father Lawrence mentioned to me that he saw in 00:02:59.449 --> 00:03:02.669 one translation, to make it a little bit more 00:03:02.669 --> 00:03:11.430 obvious to people, the master gave ten bags of 00:03:11.430 --> 00:03:18.199 money to one, five bags of gold to one. Five 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:22.159 bags of gold to another and one bag of gold to 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:25.759 one person. So that gives us a little bit of 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:29.879 perspective on this. But still in all, it was 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:32.500 a lot of money, more than people could imagine. 00:03:34.099 --> 00:03:39.199 But the word talent, of course, has morphed in 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:43.060 the English language now. A talent means a particular 00:03:43.060 --> 00:03:47.500 ability. Or something that someone specializes 00:03:47.500 --> 00:03:51.180 in. Oh, he has a lot of talent. She can play 00:03:51.180 --> 00:03:56.259 the violin. He's really good at baseball or something 00:03:56.259 --> 00:03:59.639 like that. Something that we specialize in. We 00:03:59.639 --> 00:04:04.379 all have talents. And, of course, this leads 00:04:04.379 --> 00:04:08.159 into the question, how do we use our talents? 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:13.020 Because we have to be accountable to God for 00:04:13.020 --> 00:04:19.259 the gifts. that he has given to us. Putting it 00:04:19.259 --> 00:04:23.199 in terms of a parish, what can you do to help 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:29.779 out St. Seraphims? Can you sing? Ask the choir 00:04:29.779 --> 00:04:33.139 director, Nicholas. Ask Father Lawrence. Join 00:04:33.139 --> 00:04:39.920 the choir. How about reading in the church? How 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:43.230 about... cleaning and dusting the church. Nobody 00:04:43.230 --> 00:04:46.610 likes to clean. There's no question about it, 00:04:46.689 --> 00:04:50.069 but it's a job that has to be done. I remember 00:04:50.069 --> 00:04:57.230 years ago having read a remark by Martin Luther, 00:04:57.470 --> 00:05:04.829 permit me to quote him, who said, a laundry woman 00:05:04.829 --> 00:05:09.389 can get into heaven just as easily as a priest. 00:05:10.250 --> 00:05:14.709 If she does her job well. And of course the implication, 00:05:14.850 --> 00:05:17.829 that was a barbed remark, the implication was 00:05:17.829 --> 00:05:20.670 some priests aren't doing the job they should 00:05:20.670 --> 00:05:24.949 be doing. So what are the talents that we use 00:05:24.949 --> 00:05:30.350 and how can we use them for the church? Even 00:05:30.350 --> 00:05:34.689 weeding. I know this Matushka Ann sent out, you 00:05:34.689 --> 00:05:37.449 know, well, this weather, he can't do much weeding. 00:05:37.870 --> 00:05:41.629 But next time you hear from her, nobody likes 00:05:41.629 --> 00:05:46.310 to weed, but you can come out and help her weed. 00:05:46.509 --> 00:05:50.029 Anything you can do around the church to help. 00:05:50.290 --> 00:05:54.410 And I'm sure if you can't think of anything, 00:05:54.670 --> 00:05:59.310 ask a council member or ask Father Lawrence. 00:05:59.509 --> 00:06:04.569 What can I do to help, to be of assistance? So 00:06:04.569 --> 00:06:09.019 that's why this... use of talents is an appropriate 00:06:09.019 --> 00:06:15.620 reading for right before a parish meeting. How 00:06:15.620 --> 00:06:20.879 do we use the gifts that God has given us? And 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:24.879 then St. Paul's epistle to the Colossians, of 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:30.100 course, is something that is very appropriate. 00:06:30.379 --> 00:06:34.670 It's appropriate in everyday life. How do we 00:06:34.670 --> 00:06:40.829 treat others? How does a husband treat his wife? 00:06:41.389 --> 00:06:46.110 How does a wife treat her husband? How do family 00:06:46.110 --> 00:06:50.490 members treat one another? How do children treat 00:06:50.490 --> 00:06:54.310 their parents? How do parents treat their children? 00:06:54.949 --> 00:06:59.810 Do we practice what St. Paul asked the Colossians 00:06:59.810 --> 00:07:05.000 to do? I'll remind you. As the elect of God, 00:07:05.240 --> 00:07:12.120 holy and beloved, put on tenderness, mercies, 00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:19.439 kindness, humility, meekness, patience. That's 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:26.240 the one we all need in family life. Be patient 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:33.009 with one another. If you have a complaint against 00:07:33.009 --> 00:07:38.370 another, even as Christ forgave you, so you must 00:07:38.370 --> 00:07:46.129 do. Cut a little slack. Be forgiving. Don't take 00:07:46.129 --> 00:07:52.529 things too seriously. Remarks. But above all 00:07:52.529 --> 00:07:56.730 these things, put on love. So that applies to 00:07:56.730 --> 00:08:02.720 us as a family. To us as couples, to us as children 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:08.259 with their playmates in school, be nice to one 00:08:08.259 --> 00:08:13.759 another. That's what Christians should do. It 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:18.199 also applies so readily in a parish. Sometimes 00:08:18.199 --> 00:08:22.120 you might think that monastic life is ideal. 00:08:23.019 --> 00:08:28.199 Well, I'll tell you. Talk to some of the nuns. 00:08:28.779 --> 00:08:33.600 and talk to monks, and they'll tell you putting 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:38.960 up with one another is hard. If you're just as 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:42.299 a husband and a wife have to practice love, so 00:08:42.299 --> 00:08:46.379 monks and nuns have to practice fraternal love 00:08:46.379 --> 00:08:52.299 and charity to one another. So, having said this, 00:08:52.500 --> 00:08:56.539 I would suggest when you go home, read today's 00:08:56.539 --> 00:09:00.029 epistle. on Colossians once again so it sinks 00:09:00.029 --> 00:09:03.750 into your mind and I'm certainly going to do 00:09:03.750 --> 00:09:06.250 the same thing myself because it applies to me 00:09:06.250 --> 00:09:10.929 just as much as applies to any of you so let 00:09:10.929 --> 00:09:16.070 us keep these ideas in mind what can we do as 00:09:16.070 --> 00:09:20.309 our gift to God to help around the church in 00:09:20.309 --> 00:09:25.610 any way possible how do we treat our family members 00:09:26.490 --> 00:09:29.070 How do we treat the people that we work with? 00:09:29.570 --> 00:09:34.370 How do we treat the kids in school? Above all 00:09:34.370 --> 00:09:39.350 these things, put on love, which is the bond 00:09:39.350 --> 00:09:42.210 of perfection. Amen.