Don't keep the faith spread it

33 Sunday “A” Matthew 25, 14-30 Not one of my favorite readings. I always get stuck with the servant who only got 1 talent. He got the least to begin with and then it’s taken away and given to the guy who has ten. It seems the opposite of the message of Jesus Christ. It seems more like the Kingdoms of this world and less like the Kingdom of God. I have a way out. There is a short form of the gospel. I could just read the part about the guy who got 5 talents and give a homily on how we are all so blest and that we are meant to share our gifts. That would be the easy way out. With the Gospel I find that I need to pay attention to the parts that I don’t like. The part that I don’t understand or seems troublesome to me. Also the biggest section of the Gospel focuses on the guy who only got one talent so I probably should give him more attention. The first two immediately go to work, they were given something and they make something out of what they were given. The third guy buries his talent. He keeps it exactly as it was when it was given to him and he gives it back to the master. Jesus’ message is clear: no to conservatism yes to creativity. No to a safe life yes to taking chances. No to an obsession with security and keeping everything the same. No to the refrain, “but we always do it this way” and yes to risky efforts to change the world. No to a faith buried in the ground, yes to a faith that we share with others. What is the talent? In Jesus’ time a Talent was a unit of money. It was 3000 shekels or the equivalent of 94 pounds of silver or about $20,000 dollars. No small sum. Many times we think of a talent as a talent. Father Tuan has a talent with languages, Father Ted has a talent with singing. But because the parable is an allegory it can have other meanings as well. The talent might be your religion, your life, your faith, your very self. In the Church today it seems that for many of us the main goal is to ‘conserve’ not to be courageous and seek out new ways to accept live and proclaim the gospel. People want a church that just gives the answers not one that challenges them to think. The 3rd servant doesnt act of love but fear. He doesn’t love God, don’t trust God, doesn’t feel God’s mercy. He is afraid of God and religion only helps him remain secure in their beliefs. The 3rd servant isn’t condemned for anything he did, but rather for what he didn’t do. We can’t hand our life back to God and say, “here take what you gave me back. I didn’t do anything with it, I didn’t stain it. It is as perfect as the day you gave it to me.” It is a mistake to live the life that is just religoiusly correct, we need to take the risk to live our life with love. The biggest attacks against the church don’t come the outside but from the inside. From mediocre Christians who don’t live their faith with joy. Pope Francis again and again challenges us with new ways to live the Gospel. John Paul called for a new evangelization. Not waiting for folks to come to our church but going out. Not hiding our faith in the ground and conserving it, but living and sharing or faith. Last week when President-elect Biden sgave his speech he quoted his Catholic Grandparents. He said his grandpa would always say, “keep the faith Joey.” And his grandma would say, “Don’t just keep it Joey, you got to spread it.” We have to spread the faith. The first two servants were true missionaries.