Sunday November 19, 2017
No Risk, No Gain!
Barnabas was a juggler in a circus before he became a monk. He felt called to enter an ancient monastery to give himself more fully to the Lord. At first he was very happy in the monastery, but after some time he became depressed. He saw that Brother Mark was a great painter and spend his time glorifying God painting icons. Brother Gall used his chisel to make beautiful statues, and Brother John used his pen to copy the sacred scriptures and so glorify the Lord. Poor Barnabas felt that he had nothing to offer and so he told the Abbot that he planned to leave the monastery.
Soon after this the Abbot noticed two things. He noticed that Barnabas was standing straight and looking cheerful again and also that each day, after lunch when the other monks went for siesta, he would go to the chapel on his own. One day the Abbot slipped out from lunch early and hid in the chapel. Barnabas came in and took four candle sticks from the altar. He then went in front of the statue of Our Lady and, standing on his head, did a most wonderful juggling act with the candle sticks. The Abbot from his hiding place was angry at this unbecoming behavior in the chapel and was just about to come out to reprimand Barnabas when the statue of Our Lady came alive and Mary stepped down and wiped the juggler's brow with her veil! Barnabas had offered the only talent he had and was richly rewarded.
Today's gospel parable is about using the talents that have been given to us. An enterprising employer, who hopes that his own flair and daring in business will be reflected by his servants, entrusts his property to them while he goes abroad. He gives them no instructions but just watches for their initiative. As in all stories and jokes with three characters, our attention if focused on number three; the third servant is the one who refuses to involve himself in the spirit of the enterprise. He buries what was given to him because he knows his master is strict. (In one village sharing a farmer said that the third servant was the smartest one. Why should he work hard and make money only for his master!)
In the original situation Jesus is making a point against the Scribes and Pharisees. Their chief aim is to keep the law, which they had been given, exactly as it was - not to change it, develop it or alter it in any way. They said their mission was to "build a fence around the law." But in this parable Jesus tells us that there can be no religion with risk, adventure and enterprise. Willingness to dare is an essential part of our faith. Where there is no risk there is no gain in spiritual as well as in material matters.
The first two servants risked and gained. The third brought back the master's money unused and defended himself by focusing on the reputed meanness of the master, not on his own lack of courage as the reason for this failure. So often we too take the problem away from where it is - with ourselves - and place it where it is not - with someone outside. When we do this, we make it impossible to solve our problem; we put ourselves beyond redemption! I knew one man who complained how hard life had been on him. His classmates were all in managerial positions. They, however, said that while they had worked their way up, he wanted to be at the top from the start and blamed others for this failure.
Many people think that prayer is something difficult and complicated. They say it is too difficult and that they have no time. Particularly, if they are asked to meditate - to be still before God without using words or images - they feel that they are not praying. They often, because of insecurity, pad their meditation around with other kinds of prayer. But God asks us to do the little we can, to take a risk - like the monk Barnabas - and he will be quite satisfied. Pure prayer is just to be present in total poverty accepting and offering back the gifts, great or small, that God may have given to us. All we need do is to try to say our prayer word. When we become aware of anything else we show our fidelity by coming back to the little word, the little task. When we do this, virgins in statues may not become alive but we will have done our little best and that is all that the Lord ever expects of us. As the great poet of religious experience, T.S. Elliot put it,
"For us there is only the trying.
The rest is not our business."
