Well done, my good and faithful servant!

Come and share your master’s joy.

These are the words that we want to hear from our God when this life is over.

As we get to the end of another church year, our readings focus on the end times.

Now I have not heard it lately, but it seems that every now and then, someone comes along who predicts the end of the world – the apocalypse!  Here’s the thing about those predictions – so far they have been wrong 100% of the time.

Yet we know with 100% certainty that someday our life will end. 

The average life expectancy in the United States is 78.7 years – a little less for men, a little more for women.

As we get to the end of the Church year, our readings turn us to thoughts about the end of our life.

• The ten virgins – Are we prepared to carry the light and go out and meet Jesus?
• Next week – the final judgment – Whatever you did to the least of my brothers – you did to me.

Today’s readings are all about the gift of faith that God gave us.  God is asking us: “What did you do with the gift I gave you.” 

We have been given the gift of faith – each of us according to our own abilities.  We are children of the light- here today because of the gift of faith.  Our gifts right now are of different sizes.  Sometimes we baptize a little baby over here at the font and that gift of faith is just a tiny little seed.  That seed is entrusted to the care of the parents and godparents to keep it, protect it and help it grow.   Maybe our faith is young and we are just starting to make it our own.  We’re not fully sure what we believe – but we know that God is real.  Maybe our faith is battered and bruised from challenges that we are facing – yet we hang on.  Maybe our faith is mature and strong.  It does not matter how big our faith is – what matters is what we do with it. 

The worthy wife, from Proverbs, is a great example of faith.  Read all of Proverb 31 and you will find that she is even more wonderful than she appears from the excerpt that we heard today. 

• First, she honors God in her She gives to her husband and children – she serves them with loving hands.  What about us?  Those with who we are in relationship – do we bring them good? 
• In business, she is industrious and fair. She is known by the work she does.  God blesses her work with success.  How about us?  Do we take our faith into the market place?  Do we let our faith guide our actions at work, or school, with our co-workers and friends?  Do we let our faith guide our decisions about how we spend our money? 
• The worthy wife is blessed. She returns the blessing by reaching out her hands to the poor.  (World Day of the Poor)  With open hands she gives!
• With the worthy wife, her life is not about physical beauty or charm. It’s about knowing the Lord and serving him in everything she does.  That is true “fear of the Lord” – not being afraid of God – but knowing who God is and living to serve him.

The parable of the talents is not really about how we use what we would call talents – or the things we can do well.  Although, that’s a useful coincidence in the language.  We can certainly say that God has given us talents and that he wants us to use them to serve him – especially through one another.  We can do that by realizing first that our talents are not our own – they are from God.  Our first response should be gratitude.  Next, with the talent we have, we should nurture it and grow it.  We should work at it so that we can develop it to the best of our ability.  When we begin to approach beauty and perfection – we draw closer to God.  Then, we return to God several fold what he has given to us. We can use our talents to serve God through other people.  I believe that God has given each one of us a SPARK.  It is that special thing in our life that makes us feel the most alive. Our spark is the source of our greatest joy.  And where that which is the source of our greatest joy meets the needs of the world – there at the crossroads is our vocation.   

That’s a great lesson – but the message of the talents is even more wonderful.  A talent was a valuable coin – one of differing size, different precious metals and different worth.  They could be worth as much as a whole year’s wage.  Jesus used the image of this coin to speak of the precious deposit of faith given to each of us.  What do we do with it?  Do we grow it, or burry it in the ground? 

Matthew Kelly, a national best-selling Catholic author, did research into Americans Catholics.  He found that across our country:

• About 7% of American Catholics do 80% of the volunteering
• About 7% of American Catholics give 80% of the offering

Now I know that I am preaching to the choir a bit here – because you are here. You do and you give.

Then his team of researchers interviewed 3101 members of that 7% and found that they had four things in common:

1. A daily commitment to prayer
2. Study their faith – do 15 minutes a day of Catholic reading
3. Give generously of their financial resources and their time
4. They evangelize in subtle ways– invite others to discover their own faith

I believe that these are ways that we can grow that gift of faith God so lovingly gave us. 

1. A daily commitment to prayer
   1. Do you have a place to pray?
   2. A routine to follow?
   3. Do you pray with scripture?
2. Study their faith – do 15 minutes a day of Catholic reading
   1. The Compass (soon to be “On Mission” Publication, e-newsletter, website, National Catholic Reporter, National Catholic Register, America, Living the Word.
   2. Relevant Radio, EWTN,
   3. Catholic Classics – C.S. Lewis, Chesterton,
3. Give generously of their financial resources and their time
   1. Give what is right – not what’s left! Give of your first fruits.  Give God the wage from the first hour of your week. 
   2. Find something that you can really get behind and give an hour of your week – and see what happens.
4. They evangelize in subtle ways– invite others to discover their own faith
   1. Pass on the books you read
   2. Share the insights you picked up from your reading.
   3. Lead by example

Funerals sometimes make us think about our own lives and how we are doing.

The Dash
by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that she spent alive on earth...
and now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;
the cars....the house...the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard...
are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left.
(You could be at "dash midrange.")

If we could just slow down enough
to consider what's true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,
and more often wear a smile...
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy's being read
with your life's actions to rehash...
would you be proud of the things they
say about how you spend your dash?

Thank you, Linda Ellis!

How are you spending your dash? 

Is it in a way that Jesus will say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.  Come and share my joy!”

As we receive Jesus today – may that gift of faith inside of us grow.  May we take our faith with us from here into our lives.  May we give God a bountiful return on all that he has given us.