"Engage!"

Wednesday of XXXIII/A

The parable of the talents comes back again. This time from Luke, who changes it a bit. The command is the same: "Engage in trade with these until I return." No matter how I turn it, He wants me to take a look at whatever He has given me and "engage" it so that the Kingdom may be enriched.

Moved by a false sense of humility, at times I struggle even to admit to myself that God has given me a talent for His kingdom. Ignoring it, or diminishing what He has done, doesn't help me and dishonors God. Then, facing the reality of who I am, I have to do something about it.

"Engage in trade." I found this quote" For the success of the immense work of creation, God needs only one thing: that I do my very best. If you give what you are able to give, you will be united to the greatest degree to the creating action of God. You couldn't be a more useful servant" (Teilhard de Chardin).

All He wants is that I do my best. My very best. The degree of success is not in question - He rewarded both the servant who produced ten and the one who produced five. I am sure if one of them would have said that the gold coins were lost due to a bad investments, the servant would still be rewarded. What matters is to engage the gifts. Engage who I am for the Kingdom.

Why do I experience resistance? I understand Mr One Talent: sometimes playing safe is ... well, safer. Sometimes I experience fear of failure, of judgment. But by playing safe I deprive myself of something that is part of who I am as a person. The talents and the call to "engage" them are part of my DNA. We are all born with this "calling." I know this because when I do engage my gifts and they produce fruits, I experience satisfaction, joy, energy, meaning: this is who I am, someone who has been gifted in order to enrich others. When I stop doing that, I become cynical, depressed, sad.

This is, then, the ultimate call of being faithful to oneself. I want to be faithful to who I am. I have to act in faith, then, believing that by living His Word I will produce fruits that will last.

IT becomes difficult, however, to engage the gifts in a culture that does not support the Kingdom. It creates a clash. The kingdom's values are not popular and there is always the temptation of stepping back, and compromise the whole thing.

I continue to be inspired by the Maccabees. Today, I look at the mother and her seven sons who are forced to make a decision: violate God's law or die. How cruel. I may think it's barbaric and that ours is a more evolved society but I would be fooling myself. We do the same things today, if not worse. I read in a paper that nurses are forced to be involved in abortions or they will lose their jobs. We need new Maccabees who will help us see how ugly things are becoming..
I want to believe that these brothers were inspired by Eleazar, the elder. Never underestimate what the younger ones see.

Do I take a stand? When my "life" all that I hold dear, my values and my ideas) are at stake, do I compromise or am I willing to be put to death so not to betray the Master's call?

It's time for me, for all, to be who we are meant to be. Let's get out and "engage" the gifts and let's be protagonist in the new Civilazation of love.