Parable of Talents – Life on the Chrism Trail

Homily for the Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time

November 19, 2023
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31
Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
First Thessalonians 5:1-6
Matthew 25:14-30

Saint Paul writes to the Thessalonians and through the liturgical proclamation of this epistle, to us, “(We) are children of the light, and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober.” This means that through the virtue of faith, that the Holy Spirit gives us as members of the Church at Baptism, we can see the world as it really is, as created by God as good, as wounded by the evil of sin, and as redeemed by Christ who will call us into the eternal Kingdom when this world comes to an end.

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

November 15, 2020
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31
Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
1 Thessalonians 5:1-6
Matthew 25:14-30

The Book of Proverbs speaks about the value of a wife as being of an eternal character that points to the coming of Christ and the character of His relationship with His wife, the Church. This Scripture also points to the character of a sacramental marriage. Such a wife is worth more than many pearls. She provides both for her own family and for the needy and poor. She may be charming and beautiful, but more important is her fear of the Lord, or her sense of awe and reverence of God’s power in her life which is reflected in the way she graciously and selflessly treats those entrusted to her. She does not look for any reward, but recognition and honor should be given her for her loving care. Such is our supernatural vocation as the Church, the Bride of Christ. The Church is a supernatural and graced communion, not a political collective.