The parking lot has been striped! There are a lot of rules and mathematics involved in designing a parking area and its’ spaces, and ours was no different. It is also designed to allow emergency service vehicles to have a clear path to help us if the need arises. Please don’t park in the middle in the red fire lane area! The line spacing is set up to assist the types of vehicles we drive today, and not our spaceships or drones of the George Jetson future. I think I won’t plan on being here for that!!
The psalmist wrote: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” (Psalm 118:105) Most of us do well when our paths are visible and if we have lines to follow if they are clearly marked. And our highway transportation department knows this all too well! Our paved state roads have lines on the sides, lines in the middle, lines at stop signs and stop lights, lines at train crossings, pedestrian crossings, and bicycle lanes. Lines, lines, everywhere lines, don’t do this, don’t do that, can’t you see the lines?
The early fathers of the church knew this as well when they assembled the bible. By recording the teachings and words spoken by our Savior, and the instructions given to the church by the prophets and apostles, the scripture gives us clear lines to follow. And the one spoken of today reveals our use of our talents. These talents are God-given gifts that come in the forms of love, time, physical and mental capabilities, and money. A fool invests heavily in worldly things and St. Gregory the Great defines this as: “Hiding a talent in the earth means employing one’s abilities in earthly affairs, failing to seek spiritual profit, never raising one’s heart from earthly thoughts.”[Ib.]
Your church exists on the practice of using these talents correctly. There is always a need; after all we are a church, a soul hospital; but we also have electric bills, mortgage payments and of course, we are called to feed the ox, your priest, (1Tim 5:18), as he is called to labor in the practice of Christ’s ministry. And there is always need of your talents in teaching, organizing, chanting, welcoming, cooking, cleaning, mowing, and so forth. And don’t forget allowing plenty of time for prayer and almsgiving.
Saint Gregory the Great instructs us: “To the one who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. Whoever has love receives other gifts as well. Whoever does not have love loses even the gifts he appeared to have received. Hence, it is necessary, my friends, that in everything you do, be vigilant about guarding love. True love is to love your friend in God, and your enemy for the sake of God.” [Ib., 131.]
And then we reflect upon “he shall be in abundance” (Matt 25:29) as St John Chrysostom enlightens us with these thoughts: “Let us contribute alike wealth, and diligence, and protection, and all things for our neighbor’s advantage. For the talents here are each person’s ability, whether in the way of protection, or in money, or in teaching, or in whatever such thing....For this end God gave us speech, and hands, and feet, and strength of body, and mind, and understanding, that we might use all these things, both for our own salvation, and for our neighbor’s advantage. For not only for hymns and giving of thanks is our speech serviceable to us, but it is profitable for instruction and admonition....And what are the things which He wishes us to speak? Words full of gentleness and meekness, even as He Himself used to speak.” [Ib., P.G. 58:754, 755 (cols. 714, 715).]
And then of course we all are aware of our misuse of these gifts. Our Lord warns us with these fluorescent words: “And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matt 25:30) Saint Gregory the Great builds upon this with these thoughts: “Whoever does not have love loses every good that he has. He is deprived of the talent he received; and according to the Lord’s sentence he is cast into the external darkness. External darkness comes as a punishment to one who has fallen voluntarily into internal darkness through his own sin. The one who freely enjoyed pleasurable darkness in this world will be constrained to suffer punishing darkness in the next.” [Ib.]
Our Lord has called us all to salvation with a clear enlightened path, but the decision to surrender our will and follow Him is totally ours. Follow His stripes that lead to the most precious cross and discover a love that is out of this world! More of Him, less of me!
Fr. Gabriel Weller 9-20-2026
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