I have been reading Gerhard Lohfink’s Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted, Who He Was. He has some interesting things to say about this parable. Jesus often uses harsh images from the secular world. Here is an unscrupulous businessman who goes abroad. He entrusts his servants with talents, a coin worth many days’ wages for a laborer, and expects a return when he gets back. And what a return he gets: 100% from the first two servants! Now it is extremely unlikely they did this by making a deposit with the bankers. It is more likely that they engaged in some risky investments following their employer’s example.
The moral servant, however, buried the coins entrusted to him, returned the master nothing, and was thrown out. To quote Fr. Lohfink:
Jesus is talking about the plan God has for the world. He speaks of the new thing God wants to create in the midst of the old society. This will not succeed with people who are immovable, who are constantly trying to make themselves secure, who would rather delay than act. God’s new society only succeeds with people who are ready to risk.
Please take a look at your budget as a spiritual exercise. Consider your commitments and your gratitude and make some decisions from your heart. I would ask you to put your generosity first in your budget and then squeeze the rest in. There are a lot of demands on your generosity: food banks are facing record demands, St. Vincent de Paul is struggling to keep many in southeast Seattle in their homes, and St. Therese needs your support.
As you know, the St Therese budget is showing a deficit. Closing that deficit would require about a 10% increase in giving. I know that for many of you, that is not possible but for those who can, it would help make your parish sustainable. For those who can’t, please give what you can from your resources.
You probably received a pledge card in the mail this week. Please return it or go the website and click on the Stewardship Pledge button in the middle of the home page.
If you give on PushPay, please open the app on your phone, search on Saint Therese Church and update your recurring gift amount.
The Adult Religious Education program has completed their series on The Sin and Tragedy of Racism. The sessions are available on our website.
By the way, this series was presented by the Religious Education Commission because the Social Justice Commission is leaderless as well as followerless. If you are interested in getting our missions right, sign up using the aforementioned commitment form.
Father Maurice has announced that if attendance at the 11:30 mass reaches 50, he will restart the 8:30 mass. Currently attendance is about 40! Masks are worn, social distancing is in force, there is no communal singing (sob!) and there is lots of ventilation (dress warm!) Use Sign Up! from the website or your phone to reserve a spot, though currently there is plenty of room for walk-ups. Y’all come! (If you use Sign Up! on your phone, the button is at the bottom of the scroll, not on the right where it appears on a computer.)
Let us be generous with our financial resources: