we differ in talents, we can be equal in effort
Since you came back the workload for each one of us has been tremendous. As we enter deeper into the different responsibilities, which our preparation for the alumini homecoming requires, I would like you to reflect on our personal responses to this particular call – the call of our present responsibility. I would like to suggest our gospel today as our basis for the reflection. There is only one thing I require in our work. I am not so concerned with the outcome anymore. I have resigned myself not so much on what we ought to do, and what this celebration ought to be, but only on what it could possibly become because of and despite of our meager resources.
I emphasized “because of” because that is what we are and therefore can be allowed to do. We work with our meager resources both manpower, talent and finances. But having meager resources is not a reason for being idle. Thus, I also emphasized “despite of” because I am a believer in the power and capacity of the human spirit – that despite the odds, a handicap person can win the Olympics and a disabled person can set unbreakable world records. Nothing can break the human spirit except his idleness, his cowardice to take risks and the lack of creativity.
Personally, I should confess, that my many quarrels with the kitchen personnel are always rooted in this belief – a meager budget is not enough reason to justify the cooking of bad food. Good food is not the prerogative of the rich, and poorly cooked food is not the lot of the poor. Meager budget is not the problem – it is a problem of idleness and lack of creativity. It is a problem when man refuses to think and make an effort to think through the problem. And this is the first point of the gospel – we differ in talents, we differ in abilities, one was given five thousand, the other two, and the last one – we are not equal in talent but this I say, man can be equal in effort. Nobody can reason out that he has less talent than the other. That problem is never presented in the parable precisely because that is not the point. The problem, however, centers on the idleness, and katamad, the cowardice in taking risks and the lack of creativity.
People who could not sacrifice their recreation for the work and the responsibility given them; people who could not sacrifice a weekend break when they are called to; people who insists merely on their convenience and their own personal advantage without considering its effect on the whole preparation, is the man who was given the one thousand, and he will rightfully be treated as such, thrown out into the cold night where he will gnash his teeth. In simple terms – fired!
I have always appealed to your sense of personal responsibility, appealing to the capacity of the human person to respond freely to a given situation with openness and enthusiasm and with the zeal of a man immersed in his task. Since some people could not do so, then the condemnation of the gospel applies. This is the second point – for the gospel tells us that the man who is punished is the man who did not do anything with the responsibility given him. He is not condemned because he has one talent or a small responsibility. He was not condemned because he made a mistake in carrying out his responsibilities. But he was condemned because he did not try to use it or do anything about it, or risk it for the common good. Fired!
To end I would like to commend the many people who have labored day in and day out to finish their task. Those who have gone through the humiliating task of asking money, or being present in rehearsals and practicing every night, doing menial tasks, facilitating everything or even in such simple task as cleaning the house with a sacrificial spirit, thinking only of the common good and working with utmost diligence – these are the people who were given the five thousand and the two thousand – people who have earned and even doubled the investment which God invested on them. Their reward in the gospel is very intriguing – the reward for their work is more work, their reward for a work well done is still more work to do. It is quiet ironic but true. The king never said – now because you have worked so hard, you can relax. The king did not say that. Instead he gave them more work.
In the college I have always insisted that that there should be no such thing as a service award or a medal at the end of the year. I have often believed and would like you to believe, that the service we render is the reward itself. To be given the responsibility is the reward itself. Because in contrast, people who have no responsibilities will pass this place and this world like chaff blown away not making any difference to the lives of the people they meet and live with. What indignity is it for people who live off their lives in comfort due the effort of another – pigs are exactly living that kind of life. But what pride it is to be of service and given a responsibility to make a difference. To be given a responsibility is the reward itself – because by doing so you are given the chance to do something for the community and by doing so you are given the chance to actualize your humanity and dignity. And this is precisely the third point of the gospel.
I emphasized “because of” because that is what we are and therefore can be allowed to do. We work with our meager resources both manpower, talent and finances. But having meager resources is not a reason for being idle. Thus, I also emphasized “despite of” because I am a believer in the power and capacity of the human spirit – that despite the odds, a handicap person can win the Olympics and a disabled person can set unbreakable world records. Nothing can break the human spirit except his idleness, his cowardice to take risks and the lack of creativity.
Personally, I should confess, that my many quarrels with the kitchen personnel are always rooted in this belief – a meager budget is not enough reason to justify the cooking of bad food. Good food is not the prerogative of the rich, and poorly cooked food is not the lot of the poor. Meager budget is not the problem – it is a problem of idleness and lack of creativity. It is a problem when man refuses to think and make an effort to think through the problem. And this is the first point of the gospel – we differ in talents, we differ in abilities, one was given five thousand, the other two, and the last one – we are not equal in talent but this I say, man can be equal in effort. Nobody can reason out that he has less talent than the other. That problem is never presented in the parable precisely because that is not the point. The problem, however, centers on the idleness, and katamad, the cowardice in taking risks and the lack of creativity.
People who could not sacrifice their recreation for the work and the responsibility given them; people who could not sacrifice a weekend break when they are called to; people who insists merely on their convenience and their own personal advantage without considering its effect on the whole preparation, is the man who was given the one thousand, and he will rightfully be treated as such, thrown out into the cold night where he will gnash his teeth. In simple terms – fired!
I have always appealed to your sense of personal responsibility, appealing to the capacity of the human person to respond freely to a given situation with openness and enthusiasm and with the zeal of a man immersed in his task. Since some people could not do so, then the condemnation of the gospel applies. This is the second point – for the gospel tells us that the man who is punished is the man who did not do anything with the responsibility given him. He is not condemned because he has one talent or a small responsibility. He was not condemned because he made a mistake in carrying out his responsibilities. But he was condemned because he did not try to use it or do anything about it, or risk it for the common good. Fired!
To end I would like to commend the many people who have labored day in and day out to finish their task. Those who have gone through the humiliating task of asking money, or being present in rehearsals and practicing every night, doing menial tasks, facilitating everything or even in such simple task as cleaning the house with a sacrificial spirit, thinking only of the common good and working with utmost diligence – these are the people who were given the five thousand and the two thousand – people who have earned and even doubled the investment which God invested on them. Their reward in the gospel is very intriguing – the reward for their work is more work, their reward for a work well done is still more work to do. It is quiet ironic but true. The king never said – now because you have worked so hard, you can relax. The king did not say that. Instead he gave them more work.
In the college I have always insisted that that there should be no such thing as a service award or a medal at the end of the year. I have often believed and would like you to believe, that the service we render is the reward itself. To be given the responsibility is the reward itself. Because in contrast, people who have no responsibilities will pass this place and this world like chaff blown away not making any difference to the lives of the people they meet and live with. What indignity is it for people who live off their lives in comfort due the effort of another – pigs are exactly living that kind of life. But what pride it is to be of service and given a responsibility to make a difference. To be given a responsibility is the reward itself – because by doing so you are given the chance to do something for the community and by doing so you are given the chance to actualize your humanity and dignity. And this is precisely the third point of the gospel.
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