On the Talents Fr. James Jorgenson

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.