In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Well, top of the morning
to all of you. This rain is nothing. You have
to live through a blizzard in the Midwest or
a nor 'easter in New England to know what bad
weather is. My family and I lived in the Boston
area. in January of 1978, and 28 inches of snow.
People weren't driving anywhere. If they had
to go to the store, they'd ski to the store.
That's what it was like. It was impassable. But
we still had some people that came to church
on Sunday morning. So anyway, it's glad that
we're all here together, having said that. Today's
gospel is a familiar one about talents, and the
epistle has a strong message for us as well.
But before I get into those readings, I want
to ask a question of your pastor. Father, did
you... choose today's date for the parish meeting
because of the calendar or the liturgical calendar?
Well, from years ago, I said it. No, no, no.
Our annual meeting takes place on the first Sunday
of February. That's what I thought. But we couldn't
have chosen... Thank you, Father. Yeah, I can't
plan that well. But we couldn't have chosen two
better readings before... parish meeting the
talents familiar to us a talent was a weight
of metal and of course I've done this in years
past but I figured well I'm going to do it again
I looked it up and what how much is a talent
well it's a weight of precious metal silver or
gold And it varies from place to place and from
century to century. It's like asking the question,
how much is a dollar worth? A dollar in 2024?
Or a dollar in 1990? Or a dollar during the Depression?
It varied. But it was a lot of money. heavy weight
of silver or gold. Before the liturgy this morning,
Father Lawrence mentioned to me that he saw in
one translation, to make it a little bit more
obvious to people, the master gave ten bags of
money to one, five bags of gold to one. Five
bags of gold to another and one bag of gold to
one person. So that gives us a little bit of
perspective on this. But still in all, it was
a lot of money, more than people could imagine.
But the word talent, of course, has morphed in
the English language now. A talent means a particular
ability. Or something that someone specializes
in. Oh, he has a lot of talent. She can play
the violin. He's really good at baseball or something
like that. Something that we specialize in. We
all have talents. And, of course, this leads
into the question, how do we use our talents?
Because we have to be accountable to God for
the gifts. that he has given to us. Putting it
in terms of a parish, what can you do to help
out St. Seraphims? Can you sing? Ask the choir
director, Nicholas. Ask Father Lawrence. Join
the choir. How about reading in the church? How
about... cleaning and dusting the church. Nobody
likes to clean. There's no question about it,
but it's a job that has to be done. I remember
years ago having read a remark by Martin Luther,
permit me to quote him, who said, a laundry woman
can get into heaven just as easily as a priest.
If she does her job well. And of course the implication,
that was a barbed remark, the implication was
some priests aren't doing the job they should
be doing. So what are the talents that we use
and how can we use them for the church? Even
weeding. I know this Matushka Ann sent out, you
know, well, this weather, he can't do much weeding.
But next time you hear from her, nobody likes
to weed, but you can come out and help her weed.
Anything you can do around the church to help.
And I'm sure if you can't think of anything,
ask a council member or ask Father Lawrence.
What can I do to help, to be of assistance? So
that's why this... use of talents is an appropriate
reading for right before a parish meeting. How
do we use the gifts that God has given us? And
then St. Paul's epistle to the Colossians, of
course, is something that is very appropriate.
It's appropriate in everyday life. How do we
treat others? How does a husband treat his wife?
How does a wife treat her husband? How do family
members treat one another? How do children treat
their parents? How do parents treat their children?
Do we practice what St. Paul asked the Colossians
to do? I'll remind you. As the elect of God,
holy and beloved, put on tenderness, mercies,
kindness, humility, meekness, patience. That's
the one we all need in family life. Be patient
with one another. If you have a complaint against
another, even as Christ forgave you, so you must
do. Cut a little slack. Be forgiving. Don't take
things too seriously. Remarks. But above all
these things, put on love. So that applies to
us as a family. To us as couples, to us as children
with their playmates in school, be nice to one
another. That's what Christians should do. It
also applies so readily in a parish. Sometimes
you might think that monastic life is ideal.
Well, I'll tell you. Talk to some of the nuns.
and talk to monks, and they'll tell you putting
up with one another is hard. If you're just as
a husband and a wife have to practice love, so
monks and nuns have to practice fraternal love
and charity to one another. So, having said this,
I would suggest when you go home, read today's
epistle. on Colossians once again so it sinks
into your mind and I'm certainly going to do
the same thing myself because it applies to me
just as much as applies to any of you so let
us keep these ideas in mind what can we do as
our gift to God to help around the church in
any way possible how do we treat our family members
How do we treat the people that we work with?
How do we treat the kids in school? Above all
these things, put on love, which is the bond
of perfection. Amen.