https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111923.cfm
Anyone who needs a knee, shoulder, or hip replacement knows what a tremendous handicap it can have on your mobility and your life. The servant who buried his master’s money in the ground had the same effect on the master’s household. He buried his talent out of fear so no one could use it, and people suffered.
He may have felt he wasn’t the most qualified, or he compared himself to others with more. To him, the gift was more important than the giver in whom he failed to put his trust. How different it was for the other two servants who invested their master’s money to yield a profit for him.
St. Matthew doesn’t state it, but their profit benefited many other people. More people worked, more bellies fed, and the whole community had an economic boom. How about our parish community having a big boom? An important part of evangelization is the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
We minister to Jesus to the most vulnerable and forgotten people of society. Our support of the Catholic Ministry Appeal helped countless people we won’t meet till we see them in heaven, please God. I am so grateful to God for you and your generous spirit.
Jesus is truly present in the giver and receiver of God’s gifts. St. Paul encourages us to identify our talents and gifts and put them to use in the community.
How do we keep this momentum so it becomes a gospel way of life? A good question for us to help us to recognize our gifts is: “What am I good at? What do I do well and enjoy doing?”
Gospel Challenge:
Why not share that question with a brother or sister today? It will help us recognize our gifts and encourage us to use them for the benefit of all. Let us give God the glory and thank him for trusting us so much in the many opportunities he offers us to share in our Master’s joy.
Kindle the Fire!
Please join me in praying for all baptized Catholics to be faithful to Jesus in the Holy Mass every weekend. Hail Mary…
Fr. Rick Pilger, I.C.
