In my homily last weekend, I spoke about what it means to be a person who recognizes and receives the gifts that God has given to me. To truly recognize the gifts God give to us, we must turn back to him and away from those things which distract us from his love. As we turn back to him, we begin the work of opening our hearts to his love. With hearts open to God, we can then receive what he desires to give us. We might be tempted to think that he merely desires to give us talents and virtues, blessings in this world, or a thousand other things; however, these are tiny and insignificant gifts compared to what he truly desires to share with us: himself.
As we receive these many gifts from God, and strive to open our hearts to receive Him, we soon learn that the gifts our God gives to us have a very interesting quality: we cannot keep them to ourselves. In the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), Christ explains this to us. Each of us has been given unique gifts to help those around us and to bring this world closer to God. Jeremiah explains this well. Jeremiah was given the gift of prophecy, and he would rather not have this gift. He is called to preach repentance and, later, the coming destruction of Israel due to their repeated failure to repent. You can imagine how this was received. God’s gift caused Jeremiah great suffering. Jeremiah says:
The word of the LORD has brought me reproach and derision all day long.
I say I will not mention him, I will no longer speak in his name.
But then it is as if fire is burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones;
I grow weary holding back, I cannot! (Jeremiah 20:8-9)
As we recognize the gifts God has given us, it can sometimes be challenging to figure out how to share them. Sharing our treasure is fairly straightforward, but sharing time and talent can be tricky. The “Gifted to Serve” survey can help you understand where your gifts might lie. Another way to understand our gifts is through the “Four Pillars” of stewardship: hospitality, prayer, formation, and service. We welcome others into our parish and into relationship with Christ through hospitality. We pray and show others the way to the heart of the God who loves us through prayer. We learn and teach about the amazing things God has done throughout history, about God’s plan for each of us, and about how we are called to live through formation. Finally, we go out and share the blessings we have been given with those who are in need in our service.