33rd Sunday Year A
33RD Sunday Year A – Time and Talent
Time and talent. We all have them but exactly how much of each do we have? We don’t know. That is our problem – that none of us knows exactly how much time we have to live nor what the full extent of our talents really is. So how can we make the best use of either?
Saint Paul touches on times and seasons in our second reading this weekend in his letter to the Thessalonians and this reminds us that there are times for everything under heaven. A time to laugh and a time to cry; a time to live and a time to die; a time to mourn and a time to rejoice.
But nowhere does Paul say that there is only one specific time when we should make most and best use of what God has given each and every one of us, - our talents and our capabilities. He doesn’t state that there is any one period or time in our lives for this. He says instead that because we do not know the hour of our calling, we should not go on sleeping as everyone else does but instead should stay awake and sober. We should be alive and alert.
We should be making the most of the talents God has given each and every one of us. Within St John’s parish we have many men and women with multitudes of talents. When we are in more normal times, we see them displayed and in action every week when we look around us . We see people with the talent to welcome others with friendly smiles and warm words and make them feel wanted and included.
We have others who spend time and care creating beautiful altar settings with their unique and carefully considered flower arrangements that enrich the church with their scent and colour.
We have others, perhaps more visibly recognisable, who speak the Word of God for us or who act as Eucharistic Ministers, bearing witness by the proclamation of their faith through their example of service.
Still others who sing or play instruments or who simply serve at the altar and do so in such a way as to enrich the prayerful experience of all who attend around them.
We have women and children who work as catechists, preparing children and adults to receive various sacraments by providing explanation, support and example in their journey of preparation.
Ordinarily, we have so many people who work in so many ways to enhance the parish life for all of us here today, who have taken the talents that God has given them and built on them, enhanced them, polished them, invested their time and energy into them to benefit others, to benefit us in our wider parish community.
All of these people are able to stand before God and offer back to Him what He gave them – some of His gifts of talents – with a fullness of interest and an increased return.
But what then of us who maybe don’t all fit into any of these categories: what if we do not feel able, or capable or comfortable to engage in any of these ways? What of us? What talents did God put our way?
God gave each and every one of us the talents to live, to love, to laugh and to praise Him in everything that we think, or say, or do. Every day we are given opportunities to show these talents when we meet others, when we greet others, when we show our love of life and of our heavenly Father to others.
You may think me a bit off the mark here as these are not times in which we do a lot of laughing and smiling but I think that our current times and living situations here today bring all of this into a new and sharper focus. We are living in times where everything has become filled with doubt, with fear, where all of our normal norms have been scattered and disrupted. Where, for a lot of us, we are filled with uncertainty caused by the restrictions of the lockdown and the limitations placed on our movements and our general living.
But amidst all of this doubt and confusion, we have and hold on to one true certainty and that is God and his everlasting and eternal love for me and the rest of mankind. “Know that I will be with you. Yes, to the end of time.”
In these current times it may be difficult to demonstrate a whole raft of the talents God has given us, especially those that are church-related, but God has given them to us nonetheless and he has not put any time restriction on them; no, “Sell-By-Date” or “Use-By-date”.
He has given us our life-span, our time, with no specification as to how long or short it may be but with an expectation that we will live it to the full in praise and glory of His name and that we will show to any and to all, that we are His. His in body and in spirit. His in the demonstration of our talents, whatever they may be, but especially in our lived love of and for Him. Let us show this love in our care for our neighbours, whoever and wherever, they may be
Our talents come from God. Our time too comes from Him. Let us pray for the strength and wisdom to know how to make use of both to the fullest in praise of His name and for the benefit of all we meet.
Bidding Prayers
1. That we each make full use of any and all talents that God has given us to better the world and lives of our neighbours. Lord in your mercy
2. That we each fill our time with love of God and strive to show this love in how we live our lives. Lord in your mercy
3. That we reach out to those on the edges of our society and work to share with them what we have and to welcome them into our one family of God. Lord in your mercy
4. That nations can come together in peace and harmony to share the world’s wealth and to work together to build stronger ties of friendship. Lord in your mercy
5. That all who are suffering in mind, body or spirit receive the help they need, as and when they need it. Lord in your mercy
6. That those who have died recently find eternal rest with God their heavenly Father. We remember especially James Aspinall whose funeral was this past week. Lord in your mercy
7. We spend a few moments in silence to offer up the prayers we hold dear in our hearts. Lord in your mercy
8. We ask Mary our Mother and the Mother of our Saviour to intercede for us as we now say together, Hail Mary. . . .