Today is the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time and also the last Sunday before Thanksgiving. In most years that would mean it’s also Christ the King Sunday, but due to the way the calendar falls in 2023, we won’t celebrate that feast until next weekend after Thanksgiving. This is one of the rare years that the liturgical season of Advent will fall entirely in the month of December, beginning on Dec. 3. That may be of interest to only a few of us liturgy nerds, but I for one like those quirky Catholic facts.
We’ll address Christ the King next week, but before we do let’s look at this 33rd Sunday, which will also be the last Sunday the clergy will wear green vestments until well into January. Our Gospel is a long one, the Parable of the Talents. When we hear the word “talent” these days we probably think of a skill that someone has developed well, like singing, dancing, woodworking, painting, or some other artistic or athletic ability. However, in the Judaism of Jesus’ day, a talent was a monetary unit of high value, variable depending on the metal used as well as its place of origin. Even one talent gives the servant a significant amount of money, and the master rightfully expects a return on his investment.
We do well to ask ourselves how we are “investing” the talent (i.e., gifts) that God has given us. We have been entrusted with so many riches, and not necessarily financial, artistic, or athletic gifts, but rather our very lives. How does God’s ROI (return on investment) look within us? Does our faith show forth in what we say and do? The master is coming, of that we can be sure, and he’s going to want to see what we’ve done with what he has entrusted to us. Live in a manner that produces an abundance of joy and mercy. That is, after all, what the master wants the most of all – a multiplication of the very gifts he has first given to us.
Registered parishioners should receive a letter from me this week thanking you for your continued support of the parish, and inviting us all to further discern the importance of our offertory gifts and level of ongoing support of the parish. Might I ask you to contemplate a sacrificial step-up of one to two percent of your tithe to the Church in the coming new year? Doing so will enable us to sustain our mission and prepare for the future needs of the parish, while keeping up with the increase we are all seeing in our monthly utilities and other goods.
I myself have bumped up my offertory and I did so through Faith Direct, our online giving platform. Recurring gifts are greatly appreciated because they help us continually develop our ministries and outreach to have a greater impact. They also allow us to keep up with increases in our general maintenance costs and expenses, and of course, it saves us considerably on printing and mailing costs. To enroll in eGiving, visit www.faithdirect.net and enter our parish code: TX150. As always, I am thankful for your incredible generosity to the parish, and especially for your prayers and witness to the Gospel mandate to serve God and neighbor through Giving, Praying, and Serving – the G-P-S foundation of Stewardship at CtR.
Though not a Church holy day, we will celebrate Mass at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning in church. You are invited to bring items from the Thanksgiving meal you will be serving that day for the annual Blessing of Food at the end of Mass. This has become a nice tradition each year for families to start this special day giving thanks to God for the many blessings we have received. Bring a basket with some of the items for the dishes you will be preparing and we’ll ask God’s blessing upon them at the end of the Mass. It’s a nice way of making the connection between the bounty we receive at the table of the Lord to the bounty we offer at our table at home.
One other slight tweak to our schedule this week is that we will not hold Mass (or confessions) on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 22, the night before Thanksgiving. Of course, we’ll celebrate morning Mass at 9 a.m. that day, but we’ve found over the years that the night before Thanksgiving is usually a ghost town around here as people are already out with family and friends or otherwise busy with preparations for the following day.
Fr. Vincent, our deacons, and pastoral staff join me in wishing you a blessed and happy Thanksgiving. Our parish offices will be closed beginning at 12 noon on Wednesday, Nov. 22 and will reopen on Monday, Nov. 27 at 9 a.m.