Every one of us is blessed. We have all been specially blessed by God with different gifts. We have received both spiritual gifts and physical gifts from God. There isn’t such a person as a “useless” person. There is no one whose existence does not have a purpose. We are all part of God’s purpose and design. However, not everyone uses his or her gifts. Sometimes we spend so much time looking at the blessings of others than we spend looking at our own blessings. We look at other people and see how gifted they are and wonder why we are not that gifted. I must confess that I spent a lot of time wondering why I did not have the gift of singing when my other brothers and sisters could sing. I worked really hard at it and I even prayed really hard for the gift, but God said to me, “it ai’nt gonna happen.” It took time to realize that I have some other gifts which my other family members did not have and wished they did. Rather than getting frustrated trying to learn how to sing, I spent the energy developing my own gifts.

The servants in today’s gospel were given talents according to their abilities but they all had one task, to use those talents. The first two servants did not spend the time wondering why they received different talents but they took their talents and invested them immediately. The reward of the first two servants was more responsibilities. Whenever I am looking for people to help with things in the parish, who do I call? Those who are already very committed in the parish. It is the same people I go to again and again for help because I can always trust that they will be willing to use their gifts and talents for the benefit of the whole Christian community. While their work might not have an immediate reward, Jesus Christ has promised that they will certainly have a reward. They would be welcomed home as good and faithful servants.

The third servant in today’s gospel does not invest his talent. Keep in mind that a talent was worth about three years of wages and so the worth was much. He felt safer to hide his talent in a hole, the safest place to keep money in that age. When he was asked to give an account of his stewardship, he returned exactly the talent he received. I am sure given our present economic state, we would have been afraid of risking all that money in an investment. Some of us have watched our 401 K’s lose a lot of value. The problem with this third servant is that he did nothing at all. He was not ready to take a risk. What does he do for his laziness? He blames the master. He does not want to accept responsibility for his inactions. How many times do we find ourselves blaming others for our actions? The devil made me do it.

We are all called to use the gifts and talents we have received from God. We use these gifts by trying them out and this involves risk sometimes. How is it that a day after confirmation we do not wake up and find ourselves doing mighty deeds like the apostles did after they received the Holy Spirit? The reason is because we have not tried to use the gifts we received at confirmation. You do not know that you have the gift of healing until you actually pray for someone who is sick and stand on the authority of Jesus and declare healing for that person. There is a risk that it might not work but you need to take that risk. Peter and John before the crippled man in the beautiful gate took a risk and declared healing for him. They were not absolutely sure that he will stand up and walk but they had faith in God. The problem is that we think so much about our own capabilities rather than the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is important for us to stop thinking about what we can do and focus on what the Holy Spirit can do in us. Do not wait till the Holy Spirit announces audibly to you, “You have the gift of healing” before you begin to pray for those who are sick. If you told me you heard the Holy Spirit announce that to you, I will probably ask you to see a psychologist. You need to test out the gifts and you will figure out what you have been given. It was not too long before I realized that I did not have the gift of singing and you will find that out as well in your own life.

As you go home today, prayerfully think about all the things you can do to build up God’s kingdom here on earth and put your talents to work. I want to assure you that you will be greatly rewarded for the work you do. Not doing anything at all should not be an option because there is a punishment for doing nothing. The punishment is that even the little that you have will be taken away from you.