Father Thomas Welbers' Homily

This is a strange and difficult parable.  Is God really like the master of the servants in the story we just heard?  Does God really expect us to behave like the first two, who were given unbelievably large sums of money – the equivalent of several million dollars, according to some commentators – and doubled its value while the master was away?  I’m not so sure.

Traditionally, this has been seen as a “stewardship parable,” in which the two servants who produce a profit are held up as examples of what we must do with the gifts God has given us.  Well, possibly.  But there’s a problem with this view.  Notice that Jesus does not identify this as a “kingdom parable,” in which the wealthy master going on the journey is to be seen as an image of God.  In many other parables, including the one we heard last week which precedes this one, Jesus says explicitly, “The kingdom of God is like . . . this or that . . .”  Here he simply starts with “a man went on a journey.”   Nor are the two “faithful” servants presented to us as models – it is the rich man who is quoted as commending them, not Jesus.  In fact, in Jesus’ day, in a small and impoverished backwater country in the vast and powerful Roman Empire, the only way that one could turn money itself into more money was to exploit the labor of others.  Jesus and his hearers knew this from their own experience of poverty and hardship. It’s hard to see Jesus approving of that kind of profiteering as either just or commendable, much less compatible with the self-sacrificing love and forgiveness that he both taught and practiced – even unto death.

Could it be that the fear in the man who buried the money he received was fear that he too might be tempted to profit unjustly from it?  In that case, his words to the master take on an air of defiance and even prophetic judgment: “You are a demanding person.  You harvest where you do not plant; you gather where you did not scatter.”  Doesn’t this pretty clearly mean: “You profit from exploiting other peoples’ work”?  And so when the servant says, “Here it is back!” isn’t he simply saying, “I want no part of this greed and corruption”?

Naturally, the wealthy master is going to be furious at this defiant servant – who dares, actually, to speak the truth.  Of course he’s going to take everything away from that servant, and throw him out into the darkness of unemployment, poverty and desperation.  Quite frankly, this master’s attitude and actions don’t correspond to any God that I care to worship, nor is there any indication that Jesus is saying God his Father is like that.

Hmmm.  This weekend is the commitment Sunday of our annual stewardship appeal.  This past week you received information about it in the mail, asking you to make a generous financial commitment of giving to our parish for the coming year, as well as inviting – or rather, urging – your participation in the work of the parish ministries by giving of your time and talent.  So far, I haven’t made a very good case for this, have I?

Actually, I think this parable does make a good case for generous, self-giving, and even sacrificial stewardship if we see it as only half the story – a story that will be completed in next week’s Gospel reading.

The vivid picture of the last judgment that we will hear next week follows today’s story in Matthew chapter 25.  Could the servant who was thrown out into the darkness of poverty and desperation be the one who is hungry, thirsty, abandoned, naked, ill, and in prison? – the one of whom Jesus will say to us, “What you did, or didn’t, do for him or her – the least of my brothers and sisters – you did, or didn’t, do for me”?

Just as we as individuals must hear those words, take them to heart, and act on them, so must we communally, together as Church.  The Church’s mission culminates in serving the least of Christ’s brothers and sisters – a mission that belongs to all of us.

Stewardship has to begin with how we live our whole lives: aware that everything we have and are is gift from God, and attentive to how we offer God thanks through our responsible use of our resources, our time, and our talent for our families, our communities, our nation, and our world.  And if our Catholic faith in Jesus Christ is at the heart of our lives, our support of the life and mission of our Church also has to have a central position in our priorities.

Stewardship isn’t just a matter of giving; it’s a matter of living – gratefully and generously.  What I’m asking today is first that you pay attention to the life of the church, and see where and how you can take part in it.  Personal participation in the Church’s mission is essential, as is the financial support that pays the salaries of those who enable the many activities and ministries that make up our parish life, and that pays the many bills to keep the necessary things running.  Money is a practical necessity, but is not a substitute for engagement and involvement.  Those of you who do give of your time and talent already know the satisfaction and fulfillment that it brings, as well as its cost in having to give up other interests and activities.  Those of you who are thinking about how you might get further involved, I ask you to be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit in your life.  I invite you to taste and see.

At this time I ask you to join me in making a commitment of giving for the coming year.  Obviously as a priest and as a pastor I give a great deal of my time and talent to the Church!  Well, that’s my life’s commitment.  But also with you I am a fellow member of this parish community, and I believe it is important that I too make a commitment to return a definite percentage of the income that I receive as your pastor.

Perhaps you brought the pledge card that was mailed to you.  If not, there are cards in the pews.  Please take a moment now to fill it out, prayerfully being as generous as you can.  If you don’t have a card or need a pencil, please raise your hand, and one of our assisting ministers in the aisles will give you one.  When you are finished, please hold your card high, so our ministers can pick them up.

Assisting us at this Mass are . . . [ministry bite].

Since the Gospel proved so enigmatic and difficult, perhaps we can conclude by rediscovering one of the most appealing and easily understood images of stewardship in the first reading today: the portrait of the faithful wife.  A strong and beautiful image of the Church in Scripture is the “Bride of Christ.”  As our husband, Jesus has, in the words of the first reading, “entrusted his heart to us.”  As his wife, our role in the Church is simply to care lovingly for the household that is both his and ours.

My deepest thanks to all of you for your loving care.  Thank you for letting me serve you as your pastor.  I pray to be faithful to the love that God continues to show me in you, the People of God.  May God bless you always.

© Thomas Welbers 2002

Note: the source for this understanding of the parable of the three servants is a thought-provoking study by Ched Myers and Eric DeBrode, Towering Trees and "Talented" Slaves.