33^rd Sunday Year A: Nov 15, 2020, Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; 1 Thes 5:1-6; Mt 25:14-30

This past summer we were all supposed to be watching the Olympic Games, from Tokyo, but, thanks to the Covid 19 Pandemic, that didn’t happen. I was disappointed because I love the Olympics. I hope that things can be different next year, and there can actually be an Olympic Games, and that we’ll have an effective vaccine long before next summer.

What is so inspiring for me, about the Olympics, is that it brings athletes, from every corner of the world, with so many different skills and talents and natural gifts, and then it allows these people to showcase some amazing achievements often in very challenging circumstances.

Sure, the Olympics are on a global stage and the competition is on an elite level. However, if you think about it, what happens at the Olympic games is, in a way, a reflection of what goes on in our everyday lives too. Like in today’s Gospel Parable, God has given us all, to different degrees, gifts, and talents, for us to use, for our own benefit, and also for the benefit of others.

If we consider the actions of the men in the Gospel Parable we might easily ask the question of ourselves, “Are we being good stewards of the gifts and talents that God has given us?” Are we using them wisely, investing them, so to speak, so that the benefits of those gifts and talents might double or triple as we share them with others?

Of course, the easy and safe way to go would be to just do nothing, like the man in the story who was given only one talent and just hid that talent for fear of losing it. The buried talent helped no one and was given back to its original owner having never been used for anything.

Don’t get me wrong the man who buried the talent wasn’t a bad guy. He didn’t steal the talent or misuse the talent but unlike the other two men, in the story, the man with just one talent missed his opportunity to use what was given in a way that would have blessed his master and brought blessings to himself too.

We are only two weeks away from Advent, a time when we begin to reflect on the most amazing gift that was ever given to us, the gift of God’s Son, Jesus, a gift we celebrate every Christmas.

Perhaps, this year, during the four weeks of Advent, as we look back on such a dreadful 2020 and begin our anticipation of Christmas and a better 2021, we might also reflect on the blessings and the gifts and talents that have helped us endure 2020.

A number of news programs have been highlighting a lot of talents that people have called upon and put to use this year: by parents with their children, by teachers with their students, by healthcare workers and 1^st responders, by all of those in the service industry, by manufacturers that have had to adapt to making totally new products, and yes, even by our government and politicians as well.

I know that some of us have also been in that number and have stepped up using talents that we may not have ever known we had. Hopefully, if we get the chance to use our talents, big or small, we will take advantage of the opportunity and share that talent with others. It won’t get us an Olympic medal but the blessings for us, and for someone in need, could be worth our weight in gold and, possibly, help secure a place for us at the heavenly banquet.