33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
St. Charles Borromeo
November 19, 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 and today’s anniversary is all about what we do “in the meantime” – the time in between the important events in our history and 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!”
St. Charles Borromeo – A Most Enterprising Servant
Happily, there were successors to the Apostles who also “invested” God’s gifts by reforming the Church and by advancing the Church’s mission. One such successor of the Apostles was your patron, St. Charles Borromeo. Hailing from the 16th century, he was born into a prominent family. Indeed, his uncle was a powerful Renaissance Pope, Paul IV. When Charles was only 25, his uncle made him the Archbishop of Milan, a wealthy place, which then as now, was a center of commerce. All this had the makings of a typical story of corruption in the Renaissance Church. But things turned out very differently.
Charles Borromeo proved himself a truly good shepherd who used every moment of his relatively short life to revitalize the Church at Milan. Like the enterprising servants in the Gospel parable, St. Charles invested God’s gifts by giving up wealth, comfort, and prestige by devoting his span of years to being with his priests and people, and by helping them to be formed after the mind and heart of Christ. He was especially intent on helping his priests be men of prayer and pastoral charity. When plague and famine struck, St. Charles Borromeo remained in Milan, (unlike other leaders in the city) and oversaw the feeding of some 70,000 people a day. He was constantly on the move, seeking what was good for the people he served and seeking to help them avoid what was to their detriment.
Charles Borromeo died while he was still relatively young but like the enterprising servants in the Gospel, he wisely used the time allotted to him to invest the gifts God had given him. When he appeared before Christ’s judgment seat, he heard the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
“In the Meantime”: St. Charles Borromeo Parish @ 175
Founded in 1848, St. Charles Borromeo has been a spiritual home to generations of parishioners for 175 years, beginning with immigrants from Ireland who fled the Great Famine in their homeland. Many of these original parishioners helped build the Western Maryland Railway, and in many other ways helped to build the infrastructure of our region. As the parish grew, a new church was built in 1898, this very church which has been so beautifully renovated. So fruitful was this parish that it gave rise to two mission churches, St. Ambrose in Baltimore and Sacred Heart in Glyndon. It was among the first parishes in the United States to embrace lay ministry, and this has blossomed into a broad array of ministries as the parish grows in its diversity and in its spirit of service. Indeed, the renovations we bless today are a sign of the vitality of this community.
So, it may be said that “in the meantime”, over these past 175 years, St. Charles Parish, like the enterprising servants in the Gospel, has wisely and energetically invested the gifts of God, and has produced abundant spiritual fruit, great spiritual dividends. On this demi-semi-sept-centennial…we pause to give thanks and celebrate. We are confident that those who have gone before us in faith have heard the Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servants! Come enter your Master’s joy!”
“In the Meantime”: A Future Full of Hope
Even as we celebrate the past, we look toward the future… to the next interval, the next “meantime” in the history and legacy of this parish. For the Lord is still entrusting his gifts of grace and peace and joy to us, still pouring forth the Holy Spirit upon this community and upon each of you, still showering upon you the spiritual wealth bequeathed to us by Christ Jesus. And may I also say that God has blessed this community of faith with a wonderful priest and pastor, Fr. Canisius Tah! Thank you for your loving and effective pastoral leadership!
On this anniversary day, let us resolve anew to invest the gifts God is giving us, first by lives of prayer – reading Scripture, adoring the Blessed Sacrament, centering our lives on Sunday Eucharist, seeking the healing and peace of Reconciliation. And then, as these gifts continue to transform our lives, individually and collectively, let us further invest them by continuing to give them away in service to others, surely by the many forms of ministry that flourish in this parish, and also by service to the poor, a charity that evangelizes, and by boldly, confidently, sharing the Gospel with friends and neighbors who may no longer practice their faith or who may be seeking a spiritual home. Then, when we appear before the judgment seat of Christ, we can be confident that we too will hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” Happy anniversary! May God bless you and keep you always in his love!