Dear Folks,

This weekend we get the parable of the talents, the second of the three parables about the last judgment in Matthew 25. Compare with Luke 19:11-27).

We notice what is not condemned here. There is no condemnation of those who try and fail. There is no condemnation of those who make mistakes. I once saw posted: “Remember that when God made his plan, he factored in your stupidity.” I find that wonderfully comforting.

It is said there are three surprises in heaven. First is all the people there you didn’t expect to see. Then there is all the people you don’t see that you expected to see. The third is the look on the people’s faces that didn’t expect to see you there. We might find in heaven some people whom you thought was an enemy. Maybe we thought that they were acting selfishly, possibly even evil, but God knew that they were doing the best they knew to do from sincere motives.

How do we work for the kingdom? I have said before we get some idea from Acts of the Apostles, and my reading is that they basically did four things: told the Gospel story, worked together as community, worshipped God and helped people in need. I think doing those four things will use our gifts well, and we all have a role to play.

How well could we tell the Gospel story (or a portion of it) that would make sense to someone who didn’t already believe it? Even if someone were raised Catholic, they might not understand religious language. Sometimes we think we understand but we are just repeating without seeing how it connects to our life. We are simply repeating what is familiar. I had heard the term “swaddling clothes” my whole life, and I never actually considered that I didn’t know what it meant. Only when I went to Bethlehem did I get it explained and understood. How well can we explain the faith without just repeating the terms that we were taught?

When we talk about working together as community, I suggest focus on two things: welcoming and dealing with conflict. How many of the people at the church do you know? If a visitor comes, does someone get to know them? Do we just say hi to the people we know?

How do we deal with conflict? I’ve seen a lot of handling it badly. I’ve repeatedly recommended Ann Garrido’s “Redeeming Conflict.” If we could get better at dealing with conflict it would go a long way toward making us a stronger Church.

We are called to worship God. He doesn’t need our worship, but we need to worship Him. If we focus on Him and not ourselves not our experience or our feelings, if we serve the mystery, that will make a difference.

We can get better at helping people in need. More on that next week.

We can only do this in union with Jesus (John 15:4-5). If you want to accomplish great things, if you think the world needs changing, the first step is to fall more deeply in love with Jesus. He’s right there, where you are. Take some time.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim