💖 HOMILY - NOVEMBER 19 💖

First Reading - 2 Maccabees 7:1,20-31

Gospel - Luke 19:11-28

There are moments in life when faith asks us to hold on even when everything around us is falling apart. Moments when trust is painful, costly, and deeply personal. Today’s readings invite us into that kind of faith—one that does not shrink, even in the face of great challenge.

In the first reading from Maccabees, we meet a mother who watches her seven sons die because they refuse to abandon their faith. It is a scene of unimaginable suffering, yet at the center of it stands a woman whose courage comes from knowing who God is. She encourages her sons not with harshness, but with hope. She reminds them that the God who created them will also raise them. Her faith is not rooted in fear but in conviction. Even in the darkest moment, she refuses to give in to despair. She believes that God’s promise is stronger than death itself.

Then in the Gospel, Jesus tells a parable about servants entrusted with their master’s gifts. Some are faithful and courageous; they take what they have been given and use it with confidence. One, however, hides his gift out of fear. He chooses safety over responsibility, caution over trust. The parable reveals that faith is not meant to be hidden or buried. It is meant to grow, to stretch us, and sometimes even to make us uncomfortable. God gives us gifts not to protect them from the world, but to bring His presence into the world.

Dear friends, when we place these readings side by side, a clear message emerges. Faithfulness demands courage. It asks us to trust God even when the cost feels heavy, even when fear tries to silence us. The mother in Maccabees shows us what it looks like to surrender everything to God, believing that He holds the final word. The servants in the Gospel show us that God wants us to engage life boldly, not timidly—trusting that what He asks of us, He also strengthens us to do.

Both stories speak to the fears we face today. Sometimes we fear losing something—status, comfort, approval—if we stand firm in our values. Sometimes we fear stepping forward—using our gifts, speaking truth, taking risks—because we doubt we are capable. But faith invites us beyond fear. It invites us to trust that God is at work even when we cannot see the full picture.

The mother in Maccabees entrusted her children to God. The faithful servants entrusted their talents to the work of the kingdom. Both remind us that when we offer ourselves to God, nothing is ever lost. In fact, that is when grace begins its deepest work.

Wherever we find ourselves today—facing a difficult decision, wrestling with fear, or being called to use our gifts more boldly—may we remember that faith thrives not in comfort, but in courageous trust. And may we hear Jesus’ words to those who were faithful in small things: well done.

For God sees every act of courage, every quiet sacrifice, every moment we choose trust over fear.