Once upon a time there was a king who had a son whose name was Joshua1. Both the king and the prince loved their people very much. To show how much they loved the people, the king sent the prince to visit them. Every day, Joshua went down from the royal palace on the high mountain where they lived to the village in the valley. He spent all day with the people. The people loved the king and the prince very much.
Now one day the king had a wonderful idea. He said he would have a birthday party for Joshua in the castle and invite all of his friends from the village. Joshua agreed this would be a splendid idea. He liked celebrations. Whenever he went down to the village, he would join the people in singing and dancing. He sometimes wanted to stay all night at parties in the village. But he knew his father, the king, wanted him to be home before dark. When the king told Joshua there would be a birthday party in the castle, the young prince asked his father if his friends could stay overnight. His father said they could. In fact he agreed they could stay in the castle as long as they wanted to, since they had all been such good friends of his son.
The next morning, Joshua went running down the path from the castle to the village. He leaped over the rocks on the road and turned somersaults on the grass. He rushed up to his friends to tell them about the party. When he told them, they were very happy too. They shouted and hugged him.
But then a strange thing happened. Suddenly the merriment stopped. Joshua’s friends got very quiet. Some of them even started to cry. The young prince was very surprised. He didn’t know what had upset his friends so much. Finally, one of his friends told him.
His friend told Joshua how much everyone loved him. But they could not come to his birthday party. Even though the king had been a very good king, the people in the village were still very poor. His friend told the young prince they couldn’t go to a birthday party without a gift. And because they were so poor, they couldn’t bring a gift fit for a prince. In reply, Joshua said they didn’t have to give him any presents. But his friends said it just wouldn’t be right to go to a birthday party without a present.
The prince was very sad. He walked up the long path to the castle. Now he didn’t turn somersaults on the grass. He didn’t jump over the rocks on the road. In fact, with tears in his eyes, he even stumbled over some of them. When he returned to the castle, he told his father what had happened. How his friends, at first, were very happy to be invited to a party. And then how sad they were, because they could not give him any presents. So they would not come.
Now the king, too, became very sad. He also liked celebrations. The king wondered what he should do. He thought and thought. And then he had a wonderful idea. He knew it would work. And this is what he did.
That very night, after all the villagers were sound asleep, the king sent his messengers down to the village. The messengers carried sacks with them. In each sack there were special things. Some bags had pieces of lumber, and nails, and glue, and paint for making toys. Some bags had flour and sugar and butter and fruit for baking pies and cakes. Some bags had cloth and thread and buttons and ribbons for sewing fancy clothes. The messengers left a sack outside the house of each of Joshua’s friends. And inside of every bag was an invitation to his birthday party.
The next morning when the people awoke, they found the sacks. They took the sacks into their houses and opened them. They were very surprised to find the invitations from the king. They were even more surprised when they found the other things inside of the bag. Do you know what the people did next?
They started right away to make toys with the lumber, and nails, and glue, and paint. Others immediately began to bake pies and cakes with the flour and sugar and butter and fruit. And some started to sew fancy clothes with the cloth and thread and buttons and ribbons. Each one tried to make the best present possible. Some didn’t succeed too well. The wheels they made for the wagons weren’t quite round. The pies were a little burned. The sleeves on the shirts were of different lengths. But each one had tried … except …
Except there were some who thought they couldn’t make anything from the lumber or the flour or the cloth they found in the bag. Some of them just tied the string on the bag and put it on a shelf. They were afraid to take any risks. They thought if they failed to make the very best gift possible, the king would be angry and so they did nothing at all.
Finally the day came for the birthday party. Bright and early, Joshua’s friends took their sacks and began the trip to the castle. In each bag there was a present. Some were very beautiful. Some were just so-so. And yes, some of the bags still had the lumber and nails or the flour and sugar or the cloth and ribbons left by the messengers.
For the past few days, Joshua had not been down to the village. He had been very sad, because his friends said they were not going to come to the party. So, when he heard the laughing and shouting of his friends as they climbed up the path to the castle, he was very surprised. And then he was very happy. Now there would be a great celebration and, once it started, he knew it would never end.
Now as the people had been climbing the mountain, they, too, were looking forward to the party. And the ones who had made gifts for the prince showed them to everyone else. There had been oohs and ahhs of delight when they saw the gifts. But the people who had not made any gifts carried their bags tightly closed behind their backs. They knew they had not tried to make any presents, but they hoped the king would take back the lumber and nails, the flour and sugar, and the cloth and ribbons and be pleased they had not misused them.
The king and prince who were watching from the top of the castle were overdosed that the people were sharing the gifts as they climbed upwards. The king had heard how well some of them had been doing. He was eager to see the results.
He was very pleased with the wagons with perfect wheels and the sweet-smelling pies and cakes and the fancy clothes. And when he saw the wagons with wheels not quite round, or the pies and cakes that were a little burned, or the clothes that didn’t look quite right, he smiled at their makers and waved them through the door into the castle. He knew these friends had tried to make the best gift possible from what they had been given.
Finally, there was left only the group of people clutching unopened bags behind their backs. The king looked at them sadly. One after another, they opened their sacks. He saw in each bag, the unused lumber and the flour and the cloth his messengers had left with them. He knew in his heart how these people had been afraid to risk using what he had so freely given them. Slowly, he shook his head and closed the door. From inside the castle came the sounds of singing and laughing. The never-ending celebration had begun.
But outside the only sound was that of shuffling feet. The people who were unwilling to risk using what had been given to them by the king returned to the village in the valley. All the way back, they heard the sounds of the celebration. They hoped that someday the king would send out his messengers again. Perhaps, then, they, too, would be willing to try to use what the king would give them. Perhaps, it was not too late to try.
In the meantime, the friends of Joshua who had turned their gifts from the king into presents for the young prince continued to celebrate his birthday in the castle and lived there happily ever-after.
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary; November 18, 1984; November 17, 1996 (revised)
Prov 31:10-13; 1 Thess 5:1-6; Mt 25:14-30
- A children’s homily about the use of God’s gifts, our talents.