33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2008

We are approaching the end of Ordinary Time and the days of the harvest: currently our farmers are rendering an account of their efforts in the sowing season; we may find these dank autumn days dampening our spirits and paralyzing our initiative. Today Jesus presents a parable that speaks to the most prevalent and most debilitating human emotion: fear. As an “alternative energy source,” He proposes faith, courage, and gratitude.

Saint Paul echoes Jesus’ call to accountability when he speaks of the “day of the Lord.” This notion is well attested by the prophets, who foretold that the Lord would be coming in sudden and awesome splendor, ready to take what is His own and destroy what He would not claim. On that day there will be no justification for false claims of “peace and security,” no time for mind-numbing slumber. For the unprepared, this will be a day of fear. Caught beneath our spiritual comforters, we may scurry about looking for reasons to convince ourselves that things are OK. But they may not be; we may not be ready. What will become of the wealth I have amassed? More importantly, do I rightly appraise the Lord’s presence in my life? Have I glorified Him in my daily tasks? Have I repaired any wounded relationships? What could I have done differently—done better?

When the master of Jesus’ parable returned, that was the “day of the Lord” for his servants. It may have come to pass “after a long time,” but it was nonetheless sudden and unexpected. The first two servants approached the master with a hint of enthusiasm, and were received in kind. After all, they fulfilled the master’s expectation. The third man must have been up in his head the whole time: “Those showoffs—(mockingly) ‘See, I have made five more!’ Oh, I know he’s going to be upset. I see how he works in the marketplace; he’s gonna treat me like every other deadbeat!” His excuse to his master is a web of contradictions: if he knew how strict his master was, all the more should he have invested his sum of money. Whatever amount he gave to each servant, he gave so that it wouldn’t lie fallow during his absence; it was meant to be grown. The master’s response was not surprising: If you won’t cultivate what little I give you, it will be dead to you, and someone else will grow it better.

Here as always, the operative word is not “can’t,” but “won’t.” God has gifted everyone in some fashion, and the greatest of gifts is the free will by which we do our level best with what we have. While many limitations are beyond our control, God enables unexpected growth in the lives of those who are willing. The number-one obstacle to such growth is fear. We fear failure; we fear success. Because we have failed in the past, we see no point in trying again; because we don’t have a detailed account of the future, we’d rather not create one that may not work out as we’d like. Rehashing the past and imagining the future usually lead to present stagnation: “paralysis through analysis.” Two options are imminent: the men in the white coats come to take us away, or we engage in some sort of activity that kills our souls and/or our bodies.

The good news: at the threshold of insanity and despair, Jesus emerges as Victor over sin, suffering, and death. He rescues us from our fear; or rather, He accompanies us through our repentance and renewal. Jesus turns that four-letter word into a summons: “Face Everything And Recover”—and know that you cannot and will not do it alone. By God’s mercy, we can lead productive, self-giving lives. If we have held onto security blankets, we soon can use them to bring warmth to others. What sort of security blankets do I mean? There are seven: Pride, Avarice, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Anger, and Sloth—the vicious dispositions of self that make spiritual growth impossible and in fact undesirable. They are the insufficient substitutes for the Holy Spirit, who alone can be our “Comforter.” They are the primary obstacles to what St. Paul calls “sober living.” If your actions, words, or thoughts stem from any of these capital sins, cast them off today. Make a thorough confession, however long it has been since your last one. We hear them before every Sunday and Saturday vigil Mass. Don’t wait for the Master to come back; the lines will be longer than Black Friday. We have a Redeemer who promises far better savings, for only the mere price of our lives. Face Everything And Recover: by living in the Real Presence of God’s grace we can recover the losses of our past, and await a future full of hope.