Deacon Kevin Gingras
November 19, 2023
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111923.cfm
Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
It’s a reasonably well-known thing that a talent I have is fishing. I can get my kayak into the water, read the pond, and quickly know where the fish will be hiding out. However, there is a problem with my fishing talent. I’m lazy and I can get complacent. If the weather changes or the water changes in clarity or temperature the fish will change too and I should change my lure but sometimes I don’t. I continue to cast over and over but expect different results. I think Einstein defines insanity that way.
That takes us to today’s homily. Talents. When I was looking into biblical footnotes one of them actually said that the phrase God-given talents comes from today’s Gospel. Our Gospel is a nice reminder NOT to bury our talents but instead, to build up the Kingdom here on Earth with them.
The book of James tells us our talents, or gifts are from God:
all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights
How do we keep from becoming complacent in our faith and squandering our talents like I do when I just don’t feel like changing lures in my kayak? One example that comes to mind is that I pray the rosary on my way to work in the morning. I commute all the way North to the end of Route 24. The rosary would help keep me calm. For a while, I was using an app and just listening. It was good at first but after a year or so I noticed I wasn’t as calm. I wasn’t as kind to that guy with his blinker on wanting to come into MY lane. The app had basically become background noise and I wasn’t praying the rosary anymore, I wasn’t even listening. I switched it up. Now I turn off the radio and pray the rosary out loud on my way in. I count the Hail Marys on my fingers and it has really helped me focus more prayerfully on the rosary. I’ve noticed I’m both kinder and calmer driving into work.
There are so many things we can do to help our faith life and we have many people in our parish already doing that. We have folks who are good at knitting and they are members of the prayer shawl ministry. I know of one parishioner who is good at woodworking and he helps in that area. I know of one who is great in IT and he helped us with our new phones and wireless at the Parish Center. We have talented lectors, altar servers, and all the folks in the choir loft. What talents have others noticed in you? Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in using them to help out our parish.
Helping the growth of our parish is awesome but we also need to be aware of our spiritual growth too! We don’t want that to become flat or stale and we can’t be complacent in our spiritual life for sure! How can we grow in our spiritual life? A great way is time in adoration, perhaps God is calling us to finally sign up for a weekly hour. Do we pray the rosary every day? Maybe it’s time to start! You could actually pray the rosary while IN adoration! We could attend a bible study or the men’s group on Thursday nights at 6:30. We could find a retreat to go on.
- Quick advertisement for the men, there will be an Acts retreat coming up in January from the 25th to the 28th at La Salette. I’ve also heard rumors that Fr. John Garabedian will be there as a candidate and Fr. Matt will be our weekend’s Spiritual Director -
Prayerfully discern if the Holy Spirit is calling you to go on a retreat and then go!
For women, there is also an Advent Day of Reflection at Corpus Christy parish in Sandwich on December 9 from 9 am to 2 pm. Last year’s was awesome!
Remember a few years ago the Church had the Stewardship drive where you were asked about time, talent, and treasure. In what ways could you use your time and talent together? One talent I do NOT possess, and a lot of you are aware of this, is singing. I can’t carry a note in a bucket but I know some of you can, should you join the choir? It’s something to pray about.
Our treasure is another area we don’t talk about often but should. Our church relies on the generosity of you, the parishioners, without you we cease to be a parish! Can you give a little bit more to help with the expenses we have like the heating bill, or the bell tower repairs we just had done?
We had a great example of a good and faithful servant in the first reading: the worthy wife whose value is beyond pearls. The reading from Proverbs ends:
the woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her a reward for her labors, and let her works praise her at the city gates
I imagine the city gates she stands at are Heaven as she is given her reward of eternal life for being such a worthy wife. That is our goal, right? St. Paul wrote to the Gentiles:
For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness.
Our goal should be Heaven for ourselves and our loved ones so we hear these words when our time on earth has finished:
'Well done, my good and faithful servant … Come, share your master's joy.'"
I’ll leave you with these words from Blessed Jordan of Saxony:
There are two ways of keeping God’s word, namely, one, whereby we store in our memory what we hear and the other, whereby we put into practice, what we have heard (and none will deny that the latter is more commendable, inasmuch, as it is better to sow grain than to store it in the barn).”
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