Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31
Ps 128 1-5
1 Thes 5:1-6
Mt 25:14-30
Fear is the thread unites today’s readings. The word appears in the first reading, the psalm, and the gospel. Anxiety about the future, itself a form of fear, appears in the second reading.
Fear of one's master is prominent in the Gospel. The psalm associates the words fear and Lord twice. Thus we must consider what fear of the Lord is and,perhaps more importantly, what fear of the Lord is not.
Generating fear in others has been used and abused as a means of manipulating others for centuries. Generating fear in the populace was key in manipulating American behavior by the government during covid. Closed schools destroyed education such that some kids will never recover. It was not necessary. Generating fear forced the sick elderly to die alone and frightened, with no visitors or family permitted. to comfort them. It was immoral. In many ways fear is the driver behind all advertising.
Fear of the Lord has little to do with gut-churning, hand-trembling, sweat-inducing terror. It has little to do with journalistically created fear. Fear of the Lord is much closer to love and awe than it is to the emotions and physical signs we generally associate with the word fear.
Protestant theologian Karl Barth makes an important distinction between anxiety-driven fear and what he calls ‘right fear of the Lord.’ He explains, “When the right fear of the Lord takes possession of our hearts we are both lost in amazement and struck by awe even terror. For we discover that God, since the beginning of time, has not hated or threatened us but has loved and chosen us . . . Right fear of the Lord springs from the discovery that God gave His Beloved Son for us.”
Right fear of the Lord is a complicated mix of emotions which threaten to overwhelm us when we finally and truly realize that despite being sinners God has loved us and continues to love us.
As Barth wrote, we know fear of the Lord when we realize that we are sinners who God loved, and loves, so greatly that He sent His only Son to redeem us. Right fear of the Lord is not driven by anxiety nor does it cause anxiety. it is driven by gratitude, the kind of gratitude that appears again and again in the psalms. Right fear of the Lord is the fear of disappointing those who love usbecause they love us. Throughout our lives we have feared disappointing
parents, friends, spouses, children, mentors, and others. We fear letting others down because of our own sin, our own carelessness, or our own lack of love.
Jesuit theologian Xavier Leon-Dufour writes, “Reverential fear, which shows itself in adoration, is different in that it is the normal reaction of the believer standing before the Divine. . . . fear of God . . . draws one toward deeper faith.” The gospel parable is about that deeper faith.
For this gospel in particular, it is important to recall that a parable is a mixture of
of many forms of speech including hyperbole. Among the challenges in this particular gospel is the use of the word 'talent' which frequently goes definition or explanation from the pulpit. That will never do.
A talent in the gospel has nothing to do with the ability to play the piano, make a hook shot, or whistle on key, perhaps the rarest talent of the three. The talent was a form of Jewish currency. The denarius was a Roman coinage that was was equal to a laborer’s daily wage. Converting the value of denarii and talents into modern currency equivalents slams home the point of this gospel and faith.
At a minimum wage of $7.55/hour a denarius would be worth $60.40 for an eight-hour day. A talent was worth between 6,000 and 10,000 denarii. Using a midpoint of 8,000 denarii the servant who received one talent was given $483,000.00. The servant who received two talents got almost a cool million bucks. The servant given five talents received $2,416,000.00.
The parable of the talents is a parable about faith using talents to illustrate the gift of faith we are all given. We do not purchase faith. We cannot possibly purchase it. We do not have to earn it. It is given to us freely. Others can guide us in our faith--the most important role of parents and teachers--but only we can maintain and nurture our own faith. That faith is freely given to us by God just as the talents were freely given to the servants by the master to use as they might.
Those who, like the first two servants, nurture their faith so that it increases,
who live their lives in accord with that faith, will be rewarded and share in the Master's joy. Those who, like the servant given one talent, bury their faith, ignoring it, or pulling it out only in times of difficulty or stress, or maybe for a few days at Christmas, will eventually lose even that.
All three servants knew fear of their Master. All three servants knew fear of the Lord. For the first two fear of the Lord was the awe and reverence, that Barth described as “right fear of the Lord.” Their faith, symbolized by the talents, grew as they awaited the master's return. Their reward was great when he did return. The third servant only knew anxiety-driven fear of the Lord. He only knew timidity, a lack of confidence in the Lord and unwillingness to trust the Lord. When the Master returned he lost even what he had. And was thrown into darkness.
We have the same choice as did the servants. Thus, we do well to recall today's psalm that is a brief summary of the longer gospel.
"Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored."
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Spending a bit of time with photos. These are from a few years ago but were reprocessed today. My dad was a fisherman. He enjoyed river or lake fishing in all forms. But, he drew the line at ice fishing. As I frequently went with him, I am grateful that he didn't have me standing on ice. The photos here were taken just outside Brattleboro, VT. I was driving up Rt 30 heading to Manchester, VT when I had to pull off the side and take these.
It was rather cold that day. The bike seemed incongruous. 
Standing. On ice. Waiting for a hungry fish. No thanks. 
All identifying information removed. Just four fishermen. 
A fisherman's shack resting on land. 
Several shacks seen beyond the weeks. 
Fr. Jack, SJ, MD
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