Using Our Talents

Homily for the 33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
16 November 2014

We need saints without cassocks, without veils – we need saints with jeans and tennis shoes. We need saints that go to the movies, that listen to music, that hang out with their friends. We need saints that place God in first place ahead of succeeding in any career. We need saints that look for time to pray every day and who know how to be in love with purity, chastity and all good things. We need saints – saints for the 21^st century with a spirituality appropriate for our new time. We need saints that have a commitment to helping the poor and to make the needed social change. We need saints to live in the world, to sanctify the world and to not be afraid of living in the world by their presence in it. We need saints that drink Coca-Cola, that eat hot dogs, that surf the internet and that listen to their iPods. We need saints that love the Eucharist, that are not embarrassed to eat a pizza or drink a beer with their friends. We need saints who love the movies, dance, sports, theater. We need saints that are open, sociable, normal happy companions. We need saints who are in this world and who know how to enjoy this world without being callous or mundane.
WE NEED SAINTS.

        These words, found on a bookmark, bring together the words and thoughts of Pope Saint John Paul II and Pope Francis. And they cut to the chase of our readings for this weekend: Use the gifts and talents God has given you responsibly to build up the Kingdom of God.

        Often we think of the saints as those whose piety and way of life is so far beyond our own. Not so! The saints were normal, everyday women and men who were like the first two servants in the Gospel: Individuals who used wisely the talents God gave them, and, by the grace of God and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, were able to effect change by not burying their talents in the ground.

        So it must be with us.

        God gives us talents in our lives – gifts, people and events – to use for our own sanctification and for the sanctification of the world. It is in the use of these talents that we struggle and strive for holiness; it is in the use of these talents that we surrender our will to God’s; it is in the use of these talents that we make holy the ordinary way we live our lives.

        Christ is calling on each one of us, then, that as we enjoy the movies, the theater, the times we share the pizza and beer with friends, the times when we’re listening to our iPods or surfing the internet, we do so to build up and strengthen our talents so that they may be used for the glory of God. And we use these normal talents so that we may place God first in our lives, so that we may commit to helping the poor, and learn how to be in love with purity, chastity and all good things. We use and develop these talents so that, as we strive for holiness, we learn how to become saints – “saints for the 21^st century with a spirituality appropriate to our new time;” saints “to live in the world, to sanctify the world and not to be afraid of living in the world by [our] presence in it.”

        We are not to bury our talents.

        We are not to shy away from the life God has given to us.

        God gives us our talents in this life for not only our sanctification, but as gifts to be treasured. These talents are to be shown to the world as an extension of the invitation to encounter Jesus Christ. Our treasured talents are not to be buried in the ground where they do no good for anyone. And we are not to bury our head in the sand like an ostrich, allowing life to pass us by.

        This is not why God gave us our talents.

        This is not why God gave us life.

        God gave us talents, God gave us life so that we may know Him, love Him, and serve Him in this world, so that we may be happy with Him forever in Heaven. And these talents, this life is not to be kept to ourselves, buried in the ground.

        We are called to be saints! And to work on and perfect our sanctification, we use the talents God has given to us. Yet we are not called to strive to use these talents in extraordinary ways; we are called to be saints in jeans and tennis shoes, being in this world and knowing how to live in this world without being callous or mundane.

        We strive to live fully in this life so that the fullness of life may be ours in the next. Saint Irenaeus reminds us, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and to be alive consists in beholding God.” – We are not to wait to behold God; we are not to wait in being alive. Through the use of our talents, we become alive; we behold our God. Nevertheless, it is in the midst of living in the day-to-day ways that we not only draw closer to God, but we invite others to come to know Him, as well.

        My brothers and sisters, be saints.

        Be holy.

        Be normal.

        Be alive.

        Be God’s.

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Enjoy the journey . . .