“TRANSFORMING the Church involves partnership and participation.” I shared this reflection with some priest-delegates of the First National Assembly of Filipino Priests serving the Roman Catholic Church in the United States of America during a workshop I conducted on cultural integration in ministry. What an astonishing way was this manifested during this historic assembly as hundreds of lay people gave a hand, spent long hours of volunteer work, and put their whole hearts in this service to bring success to the assembly! They shared their 3 T’s: time, talent, and treasure. Taking day-off(s) from work, some welcomed delegates at the airport with beautifully crafted leis; others manned the registration booths and set up the assembly rooms while people in various parishes and communities started to prepare dinner banquets, lunch packages and gifts for the priest-delegates.
Even months before the assembly, many lay people joined the Filipino priests of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in preparing for the event with fundraising projects such as The Filipino Priests in America concert. Others offered their resources and talents in media, graphic arts, technology, journalism, hotel management, and finance. Several people spent late hours making telephone calls to priests across the nation to inform them about the assembly and to convince them to attend. All these works paid off; almost 400 Filipino priests attended the historic event.
Indeed, the success of this national assembly could not have happened without the generous and heroic support of many lay people. It could not have happened with the work and vision of one person or a few people. This was the over-all sentiment of the leadership, committee members, priests, bishops, observers, guests.
The Parable of the Talents in the Gospel relates well to this scenario of partnership, participation, and support. Talents and resources could not be buried; they should be shared and multiplied for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
This use and growth of talents could not be promoted for any egocentric motive but for the spread of the Good News, the values of the Kingdom of God. Hence, even talents that others seem to think are for secular use should be channels of evangelization and grace.
In the Parable of the Talents, a man on a journey entrusted his possessions to his servants. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third one. The person who received five and two talents multiplied them, while the one who received one buried it out of fear to the demanding master. In the end, the master castigated the lazy servant for his imprudent action.
While we live on earth, the Lord sets us on the task of transforming the world and humanity with Gospel values. We don’t have to do anything extraordinary to realize this mission. We can just do an inventory of personal talents to see what we can nurture and grow for the fulfillment of God’s Kingdom!
* * *
Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas attended St. John Seminary in Camarillo, California and earned his Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. For twenty years, he has been in the parish ministry of large multi-cultural communities. Since 2002, he has been the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles. Please email Fr. Rodel at [email protected].
