33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
November 18, 2023
What the Apostles Did “In the Meantime”
One evening, when I was about 10, Mom told me that Dad was delayed in getting home from work and that dinner would about an hour later than usual. Adopting my best adult persona, I announced to my dear mother, “Well, then, in the meantime, I will watch television.” “No sir,” said she, “In the meantime you’ll finish your homework.” If I had known the word “bummer” back then, I would have used it.
Today’s Gospel parable is about what we do “in the meantime” – on ordinary days, in between the important events in our lives … let’s review it. The Master was going on a journey, so he entrusted his wealth in varying amounts to three servants, presuming that, in the meantime, while he was away, they would invest his money and return it to him with interest. Two servants were enterprising. The third was not. When the Master returned, he was pleased with the first two servants but condemned the third, not so much for being lazy as for being timid. For the third servant, instead of investing his Master’s wealth, buried it. In a word, he lacked imagination and boldness.
So what was Jesus really talking about in this parable? He was talking about his mission and preparing his disciples to share in it. He was preparing them for the day when, after his death and resurrection, he would return to the Father and the Spirit would pour out his gifts upon them. Like the Master in the parable, Jesus, as he departed, would entrust to his disciples his gift of peace, his grace beyond measure, his mission, his life. What, then, would they do with all this “in the meantime”? What would they do the gifts that would be given them, from the day of Pentecost until that Day when the Lord would return in glory? Would his gifts lie dormant or would they be “invested”?
We know the sequel, you and I. Like the first two servants in the parable, the Apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, “invested” the gifts that were given to them, and did so by preaching boldly, working miracles, celebrating the Eucharist, and bringing thousands upon thousands to know Jesus Christ and him crucified, courageously laying down their very lives for Christ in the process. When they appeared before the judgment seat of Christ to give an accounting, he said to them, “Well done, good and faithful servants!”
What Are We To Do “In the Meantime”?
We too are living “in the meantime” – in that period of time stretching from the Ascension and Pentecost to the end of the world. Of course, that’s a long time, some 2,000 years thus far. Each of us has a shorter, more manageable “meantime” to deal with, namely, from the day of our Baptism until the end of our lives—a day we know not. What are we doing with the gifts the Lord has given in the time allotted to us? Are we investing these gifts or letting them lie dormant? Of course, we may object that unlike the Apostles, we never saw the Lord in person or heard him preach or witnessed his miracles and were absent on the day of Pentecost. Don’t we have less responsibility than they did to grow the gifts given us? Not at all!
For, like the Apostles, we have encountered the Lord Jesus Christ in his Word, the Lord whose ‘heart speaks to our hearts’, whose word resonates in our depths. Like the Apostles, we have experienced Jesus’ gift of healing as he forgives our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. No less than the Apostles, we have sat with the Lord at the eucharistic table as he gives us the Bread, which is his Body and the wine, which is his Blood, and pours out upon us afresh his gift of self, crucified and risen. No less than the Apostles, we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, first in Baptism and then in Confirmation, the Spirit who pours into our hearts the wealth of God’s love. So, the question for each of us remains: “What do we do with God’s gifts, ‘in the meantime’”?
An Investment “Guide”
The short answer to that question is that we are to “invest” what we have received. …And if only it were that simple, we might be thinking! If only we could deposit our baptismal certificate in a bank and get it back with interest, like the enterprising servants in the parable. But the kind of “investment” the Lord wants requires more of us, as we know. So, if you don’t mind, allow me to offer three tips on investing what we’ve been given.
Beginning with this: Time is short, invest now! Don’t wait for that special day! This is what the ordinary days of our life are for – growing the gifts we’ve been given. Let us heed St. Paul’s warning not to rely on our own brand of “peace and security” but rather be active and vigilant Christians, even on the most routine of days.
Second, the primary place to invest God’s gifts is not a bank but our hearts. Nurture the life of the Spirit and the gifts God has given you by prayer of all sorts: read Scripture, pray the Rosary, engage in Eucharistic adoration. Carve out quiet time each day to be with the Lord and to listen to him. Center your life on the Eucharist and be nourished at the Lord’s table. Seek the support of your fellow Catholics by actively participating in parish life. All this is how the gifts of the Spirit grow in our hearts and overtake us.
A third investment tip is this: If you want the Lord’s gifts to grow, give them away. Share them with others by giving of yourself in service to the poor. Share them with others by boldly bearing witness to the Lord’s love in your life, first within the home and the family but also beyond. Think of how many non-practicing Catholics each of us knows. What if we all summoned our courage and boldly asked just one such Catholic to return to the faith? And we may say, “What? Now? With all that’s going on?” Yes, now. This isn’t the time to timidly bury our talents in the ground. If anything, this is the time to double-down on the mission the Lord has given us!
Thanksgiving
In the week ahead, we will pause for a civil holiday, Thanksgiving. My final investment tip is to make every day a day of thanks, a day to express our amazement to the Lord for his love, a day to rekindle our hope, a day to say with St. Paul, “He loves me and he gave his life for me!” May each of us, in the measure given us by the Spirit, produce the good fruit of the Gospel with joy and generosity, and may God bless us and keep us always in his love!