These articles on Stewardship were originally printed in the Voices newsletter of St. Joan of Arc Parish. This article was written by Eric Wyatt.
As we speak about the spirituality of Stewardship, it is not uncommon for the focus within a parish to naturally gravitate toward the “time” (volunteerism) and “treasure” (monetary gifts) that every parish requires to be thriving and alive. The third – sometimes neglected – facet of Stewardship is talent, and talent is so closely connected to the other two that it is sometimes hard to distinguish where one ends and the others begin.
A simple explanation of this is that – at least on some level – talent is directly tied to our gifts of both talent and treasure. The amount of our monetary gifts which we have available to share with the church or other worthy causes is impacted by our vocational talents. Similarly, the areas in which we volunteer are tied to our areas of spiritual talent – our areas of charism. In both cases, our talents – whether vocational or spiritual – are gifts given to us by a loving God who desires that we play an active role in His working in our world.
But, it will serve us well to consider the talents we each have outside of this basic framework. Why? Because as Stewards, we are called to not just maintain and protect our talents, but we are to develop, grow, and increase them. Sometimes this requires measured risk taking.
In St. Matthew's Gospel (Chapter 25, verses 14-30) we are given the parable of the talents. Those who took measured risk and saw a return on the investment are praised for returning to the master more than what he had given them. The servant who fails to realize a return on the talents given him, is chastised for allowing fear to paralyze him into inaction.
Conversely, in the 31st chapter of Proverbs (verses 10-13) – in a section sub-titled “The Ideal Wife” - we find praises heaped upon the wife who works hard and increases her wealth to share with the poor, is innovative in her working, manages her household resources in a way which multiplies and not just maintains, and ultimately uses her God-given talents to facilitate the entire state of affairs.
In our own lives, we sometimes find ourselves playing the role of the fear-paralyzed servant more often than we follow the example of the woman in Proverbs. We find ourselves in this position for two common reasons. First, we hold to the (false) notion that most of our gifts aren't “sacred enough” to be used in the church; that if we can't sing, or teach, or directly minister, then our talents aren't useful. The second belief is that even if our talents are really needed, there is probably someone out there who can do it better than us, so it is their responsibility to share, not ours.
Both of these attitudes are a a result of a kind of fear: a fear of making ourselves vulnerable and a fear of “outside the box” thinking.
The truth of the matter is that our talents – no matter what they are – can be used to the Glory of God, and we have a responsibility to use them. Each of us is different, and we each have something unique and eccentric to offer. When even one of us fails to share our talents – when we let our human fears paralyze us – we weaken our Spiritual Home.
Sometimes sharing our gifts requires creativity, especially when it comes to using talents which aren't immediately recognizable as “church” talents. Consider these real-world examples:
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A protestant church in Indianapolis, where a man who's talents are mechanical in nature, ministers to fellow parishioners by offering car repair and maintenance services free of charge.
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A Catholic church in Charleston, South Carolina where several building-gifted individuals have built multiple portable homes to be used by Hurricane victims.
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Our own “Sweat Equity” volunteers who have utilized mechanical, building, maintenance, electrical, and other talents to help maintain and expand our parish building.
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The “Grand Auction of Unusual and Eccentric Talents” which helped a church raise thousands of dollars by auctioning things like ski lessons, computer or math tutoring, cleaning services, babysitting, yodeling instruction (seriously), cooking lessons, sewing, home decorating help, and other “secular” talents.
In the coming months, each of us will be asked to find new and creative ways to utilize our talents in the service of Christ. Be thinking about how you – a unique, important part of our parish – can lend your talents to the increase of our Spiritual Home, the benefit of our local Catholic community, and the furthering of the Gospel message.
Eric Wyatt is the Pastoral Associate for Temporal Affairs at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Kokomo, Indiana. He can be reached at ewyatt@saintjoan.org.