November 19, 2023 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jerome: He that had received five
talents, that is, having received his bodily senses, he doubled his knowledge
of heavenly things, from the creature understanding the Creator, from earthly
unearthly, from temporal the eternal.
[...] Origen: Or, They that have their senses exercised by healthy
conversation, both raising themselves to higher knowledge and zealous in
teaching others, these have gained other five; because no one can easily
have increase of any virtues that are not his own, and without he teaches
others what he himself knows, and no more.
- St. Jerome and Origen in Thomas Aquinas' Catena Aurea
This Sunday's
Gospel reading is the well-known parable of the talents. We often associate
talent with being skilled in a certain profession. Some imagine God as a robed
old man in the sky, looking down at every infant and thinking, "I'll make
this one a musician, and this one a tennis player, and this one an exceptional
public speaker." He then sprinkles some holy dust on the babies and poof,
you've got a musical genius! Under that view, if I fail to develop my muiscal
skill or choose a path other than music, I'd be wasting the gift and messing up
God's plan. I tend to be critical of this view. My own opinion is that God's
gifts are much more subtle.
If you asked me, I would not claim to have the gift of music. Allow me to explain. I've always had a pesky penchant for asking "Why???" As a kid, I was most fascinated by science, math, psychology, philosophical questions (e.g. is it selfish to do good because you want to feel good about yourself for doing good?) and theological questions (e.g. why are there different religions and how do I know if I'm in the right one?). My specific musical discipline is music theory, which is that field concerned with all the "why's" in music: Why do some combinations of notes sound more pleasant than others? Why does that part of a song make people feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Why are some melodies harder to sing than others? If God had ever given me a gift, I think it was the gift (and burden...) of a questioning heart, one that scrutinizes everything -- yes, even the faith (Sorry!!!). Under this view, my current profession indicates the path I chose out of my human free will, i.e. the path of music instead of science or philosophy; but the steps I took along that path were those of one given a love of questions. "The human heart plans the way, but the LORD directs the steps." (Proverbs 16:9)
That may explain
why I can teach music, but I cannot make people
inquisitive. Speaking of teaching, this past week saw the conclusion of our
parish musicianship training class, as well as the Meeting Christ in
Prayer class. My friend Kathy and I exchanged thoughts about our
respective programs and explored areas for improvement, should we decide to
offer them again next year. Her gift, I speculate, is a listening heart (1
Kings 3:9) -- a heart that listens to God, to people, the sick, the poor, the
confused, the faithful, and yes, the questioners. I see it in how she talks to
servers at restaurants, how she parents her kids, in her profession as a
women's health coach, in her contemplations of the Holy Spirit's whispers --
everything about her screams a listening heart. Had she made different choices,
I imagine she would have made an excellent therapist, HR manager, or spiritual
director. But I'm glad she made the choices that led her here, otherwise I'd
have never experienced the grace of her listening heart, and we'd have never
exchanged gifts.
Now
it is a greater perfection for a thing to be good in itself and also the cause
of goodness in others, than only to be good in itself. Therefore, God so
governs things that He makes some of them to be causes of others in government;
as a master, who not only imparts knowledge to his pupils, but gives also the
faculty of teaching others.
- St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Ia q103 a6
With my peace,
Carlo Serrano, Music Director
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