November 19th Sunday Readings.

Are you a procrastinator? I’ll admit it, there is nothing quite like a deadline to help me complete my work. Part of the reason is that I like to keep my options open when it comes to tasks. What if new information comes and I’ve already done? I know that procrastination has got me in trouble more than once. Are you a procrastinator? Has procrastination ever gotten you in trouble?

In the gospel this weekend Jesus tells a parable about a Master and three servants. The Master gives an obscene amount of money to each servant while he is away. When the Master returned two of the guys have doubled their money, while the third servant has simply hidden the cash and hoped for the best. The Master praises the first two servants while the third servant is called wicked and lazy and is thrown out of the house and into the darkness.

The key to this reading for me is one word – immediately. When the Master gives the money to his servants and goes away Jesus says in the parable that, “Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two.”

The servants who get to share in the Master’s joy don’t wait. They don’t hesitate. They don’t put off their work until tomorrow or until they feel like it or until the circumstances are better or until they get invited or until….you fill in the rest.

If we wait or hesitate we may not have time to double our money. If we wait to invest spiritually in our life or our spouse or our children, we may not have enough time for our efforts to be fruitful. If we procrastinate working with the great gift of our life that God has given us, we may not be able to share in the joy we could have if we work not.

What’s the lesson? Don’t wait! Don’t wait until tomorrow to pray, go to Confession, give forgiveness, or serve someone else. Go, now!

Live It: Take 5 minutes (right now!) to decide what can you do in the next 24 hours to grow your faith, grow closer to Jesus. Then make a plan to do it in the next 24 hours.