A young woman from another country was working, as many immigrant women do, caring for the children of an upper-middle class family. One day she heard the children yelling and screaming in another room. She spoke English well enough, but she hadn’t yet mastered some of our expressions. So as she entered the room intending to restore order, what she meant to say was, “What on earth are you doing?” but instead she said, “What are you doing on earth?”
That’s a great question especially after hearing today’s Gospel (Matthew 25:14-30), and it’s a question that we must ponder from time to time. What are we doing on earth?
Last Sunday, our Youth Ministry team ran the Confirmation Retreat for our Religious Ed 8th graders. And I challenged them with that very same question. God has blessed each of us with a number of unique spiritual gifts, but are we using them? What good is having a gift if we’re not going to use it? When we receive a gift, be it birthday or Christmas, do we not open it? Do we hide it away in a closet? No, we open the gift and we use it out of love and respect for the giver. And that’s what we need to do with the gifts that God has given us.
I also reminded our teens that everything ultimately belongs to God. Even we ourselves belong to God. We are accountable to God for what we do with the gifts He has entrusted to us. Jesus says, “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required.” God has made us stewards, or caretakers of our life, our time, our health, our education, our material things, our relationships, and even our individual talents – and we must use these well.
At Baptism we were called to live our lives patterned on the life and teaching of Christ. We were called to be disciples – to use our God-given gifts and talents to bring the Word of God to life, to imitate Christ, and to share Christ with one another. We were called to follow Jesus, no matter what the cost.
So, what are you doing on earth? I have this quote hanging in my office at home: “You can’t make footprints in the sands of time if you are sitting on your butt. And who wants to make buttprints in the sands of time?” Are we using our talents and gifts that God gave us to make a difference in the world? Or are we hiding them away out of fear, and keeping them for ourselves? Are we reaching out to help those in need? Or are we just thinking of ourselves and our own desires?
Jesus is giving us an invitation to follow him, but we need to make the next move. We cannot be afraid like the servant in the Gospel. We need to use our gifts so that we can live more fully in Christ.
The greatest gift of all is not other people, and is not nature, or our family, or even our own talents that we’ve been given. The greatest gift of all – the greatest gift that we have ever been given – is the Giver of all good gifts! God chooses not only to put up with us, but to be with us. That is truly amazing. That is the gift of Jesus. And once we accept that gift and then freely give that gift away to others, it is then that our lives will never be the same again!
