During the prayers of the faithful each week we remember those who are willing to risk life and personal injury in the service of others. This includes the military, the police, first responders, front line workers in hospitals, and so on. With each of these groups we recognize how courageous they are in performing their duties. This is the reason that we hold them in such high esteem. C.S. Lewis the famous and much-loved children’s author and spiritual writer said, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality.”
To be courageous is to face reality head on. Our own dear Saint Agnes would do just the same when at the young age of thirteen she would stand firm at a time when persecution was running rampant in Rome under the Emperor Diocletian. Little Saint Agnes was burned and beheaded for her demonstrable faith and courage.
Courage is not a lack of fear, courage is the willingness to act and do what is needed despite being afraid. Be it Saint Agnes, a soldier in the First World War going over the top of the trenches, or a fireman rushing into a burning building, overcoming fear is courage.
In our Gospel today we read about the master who entrusts his servants with his possessions. There is a diversity of opinion about how much a talent was worth, but the point is that even one talent is worth a lot of money and with it much can be done. This master is looking for his servants to be good and faithful and to invest his possessions, his money, in a way that shows a good return. The same number of talents is not given to each but rather the wise master gives according to each servant’s ability, to one he gives five talents, to another two talents, and to the last only one. Upon the master’s return the servants are asked to account for how they spent the talents they were given. I think it is inevitable that we are drawn to that last servant who hides his talent in a hole in the ground because he feared his master; because the master had such high expectations for a harvest, even where he himself had not planted. Judging his masters’ expectations correctly, the servant still failed to produce what was expected and so ultimately, he would lose everything before being thrown into the darkness. But why did this servant fail? It is true he was wise enough to know his master expectations and yet despite that he failed to act.
This parable is given to us, so we too know that God expects something of us. We are each given many and varied gifts, both material and, most importantly, spiritual. To bury these in a hole in the ground is to quench what was given to us at baptism and again in confirmation. In baptism we each received the gifts of the Holy Spirit made present in the very depths of our being. This includes the gift of fortitude or courage. A gift that helps overcome fear; overcomes it but not eliminate it. Emboldened by the Holy Spirit we find the strength to resist evil, to do good despite what the world throws at us, and to walk, limp, shuffle, jog and run towards our master. You see the servant with the single talent was fearful, lacking courage. His fear stemmed from his perceived servile relationship with his master. Though wise in knowing what his master expected, he could not see beyond that. He could not see that his master had given him a tremendous gift as a sign of his master’s trust, affection, and confidence. It is the failure to do this that ultimately caused the servant’s demise. For sure we can dwell on the fate of this one servant, but the parable also speaks to those who no longer live in a servile relationship with their master. You and I have a different sort of relationship with God; a filial relationship. By means of our baptism we can call our Father “Abba,” we call Jesus our brother, and Mary our mother. How beautiful. Our spirit no longer feels the dread of an unhappy master coming home, rather we have a filial fear born of love for our heavenly family. Some writers have ascribed spiritual stages to our servants. A servile fear being equated with the purgative phase in spiritual development, where we need to turn away from our old habits and sins and have a conversion of heart. And a filial fear equated with the illuminative phase where we grow in virtue and love for God and neighbor. Here we willingly and increasingly want to follow our Lord and happily invest our talents in ways that promote the Kingdom of God.
Any casual review of the news shows that our world is getting more dangerous, more difficult, and darker. From wars and the plight of the needy, to the overt assault on human dignity, and the targeting of children and families; the very fiber of our global society is under strain. There is work for us to do each day. In action, in word, and by example, from wearing a cross around our necks, to saying grace publicly at Jimmy's Steer House on Mass Ave., to giving a reason for the hope that lies within us to the seeker, our talents should not be found lying undisturbed at the bottom of a hole in the ground. Our natural and spiritual talents are entrusted to us for our own prosperity and good, and for the good of others. Ultimately, they belong to the Father, they are his possession.
We are proud of those that serve in uniform with such courage, we are proud of our courageous martyrs and saints. We are proud of the faith that we profess. So, as you leave here today, be courageous and likewise let us make our Father proud.
Deacon Peter Bujwid,
Arlington, Massachusetts
November 19, 2023.
Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31, Psalm 128:1-5, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, Matthew
25:14-30
