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r\ n o u sj fs Thursday, March 30, 2000 The Southern Cross, Page 9 lna Nutshell Is the parable of the unjust steward about honesty in business dealings or about being astute in spiritual matters? If we concentrate on a parable’s central point, we can approach the heart of Christ’s message. Faith that centers our lives and guides our actions in all the varied arenas of society: Isn’t this what the parable of the yeast is about? The laity’s parable By Dolores R. Leckey Catholic News Service p X ondering the Gospel parables I am naturally drawn to all the stories of finding the lost: the lost coin, the lost sheep, and of course, the lost son. Maybe that’s because the idea of God going to all that trouble gives me a sense of overflowing mercy and love, and that’s consoling. But it is the parable of the yeast or leaven that really speaks to my life as a layperson. The parable is short — only a few lines. Jesus compares the reign of God to a woman kneading yeast into the flour that soon will become bread. Jesus must have watched women working the dough and perhaps he marveled (as I do on the rare occa sions when I bake bread) how alive the dough be comes. It takes only a tiny bit of yeast, together with some attentive work, to effect a huge change in lifeless flour. While the yeast can be thought of as faith (and I do think of it as such), over the years I have come to associate it with the Christian lay people. We laity bring faith into all the re cesses of the world. We are in schools and laboratories, offices and the halls of government. We establish families, and build homes and communities. A faith which centers our lives and guides our actions in all these varied arenas of society can make a differ ence not only to us but to the environ ment we inhabit. A woman in my parish, worried about neighborhood resentment to ward the increasing numbers of im migrant children in the schools, asked the school board to form a committee to foster communication between the different ethnic communities. She served as the first chairperson. The following year she was elected to the school board where she keeps the needs of society’s newest members before the wider community. She at tributes her willingness to undertake this extra commitment, beyond her family duties, to our pastor’s support and encouragement — (Kneading the dough, perhaps?). Some years ago I wrote an article inviting readers to write to me about how their faith impacts their work life. Hundreds of people responded with eloquent testimonies. An office worker from Alabama wrote about a mural on his office wall depicting the earth and the spaceship Columbia. “When people comment on the beauty of the mural I speak about God’s creativity mani fested in the planets, the engineers who developed the spaceship and the human person’s relationship to all the rest of cre ation,” he wrote. From a physi cian: “I am discov ering a deepened sympathy for pa tients recently widowed. This has led me to establish a grief support group.” One of my favorite accounts was written by the wife of a house painter. They spent some time one evening discussing my question and the woman wrote down her husband’s thoughts. “I like to think I bring beauty to the world in the hanging of beautiful wallpaper. Even plain wall paper or vinyl brings a look of cleanli ness and orderliness,” he said. He ex pressed concern about bosses who want him to cut corners, for example, putting on one coat of paint when the contract calls for two. These lay faithful engaged in daily labor — on the school board, in a medical examining room, among paint brushes and wallpaper and in an office — are serving as yeast. Their small, everyday actions speak of Christ’s joy, peace and justice. They make the reign of God real. (Leckey is a senior fellow at Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University.) e laity bring faith into all the recesses of the world. We are in schools and labo ratories, offices and the halls of government.” Parables today By Father James A. Wallace, CSSR Catholic News Service re there parables around to day? Quite a few. Although today’s parables do not focus explicitly on God’s kingdom, they do cast light on our fragmented human condition. Occasionally, they even convey a sense of God’s grace penetrating life in unexpected ways. When Charles Schulz died the day his last “Peanuts” strip ran in the Sunday papers, that occurrence itself seemed something of a par able: His race run, he passed on to receive the laurel crown for his achievement. Schulz had given us a parable that went on for 50 years in the world peopled by Charlie Rowling’s tales of Harry Potter, the young boy whose magical powers take him into a world of wondrous school subjects, fantastic sport competitions, and an epic struggle between good and evil. For more adult tastes, Cormac McCarthy’s gift of creating a mythic world of natural beauty and wonder, of human complexity and cruelty, makes his three-volume Border Trilogy (All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, Cities in the Dust) a won derful coming of age tale of two young men in the American south west. However, I find the strongest presence of “parables” in movies “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (U.S. Catholic Conference rating, A- IV) serves as a chilling tale of our ability to become what we behold, no matter how CNS photo by Bill Wittman and, of course, Snoopy. The Washing ton Post said that his work captured the “American sadness” located in the fear of being insignifi cant, along with the sense some have of the world’s innate deprav ity and that God is in different. But there were more positive signs: Charlie Brown’s will ingness to trust Lucy yet again to hold the football, Lucy’s hope that Schroeder might no tice her, Snoopy’s dancing for joy and Linus’ faithful vigil in the pumpkin patch. It was a parable for the second half of our century, reminding us that even in the face of anxiety, loss and disappointment, we could go on — to gether. I find a parabolic quality in J.K. ers, or how empty and unfulfilling the object of our desires can be. Tom Ripley’s ability in this film to seduce and savage in such swift succes sion is mesmerizing a prodigal son going further and further from home. Then there are the storytellers and essayists who con tinue to provide us with tales, old and new, which bring in sight, laughter and a quickening of the human spirit. Consider Father William Bausch’s A World of Stories for Teachers and Preachers, Annie Dillard’s For the Time Being, Megan McKenna and Tony Cowan’s Keepers of the Story and John Shea’s Elijah and the Wed ding Feast. Any parables around? Just about everywhere. Lt was a parable for the second half of our century, reminding us that even in the face of anxiety,... we could go on — together.” FAITH IN THE MARKETPLACE What “words to live by,” what “wisdom” would you proclaim to your surrounding world if you could? “What you are is God’s gift to you. What you become is your gift to God.” — Ann Corcoran, Fort Ann, N.Y. “He may not give you what you want, but he’ll always give you what you need.” — Patti Panowicz, Cairo, Neb. “Treat people as you would like to be treated: That’s No. 1. And No. 2: A smile never hurts.” — Linda Fox, Cincin nati, Ohio “What comes to mind right away is the ‘Golden Rule’: Treat people in the way that you want to be treated. It’s simple wisdom, but it works.” — Ann Lancaster, Charleston, W.Va. An upcoming edition asks: In how many languages is the liturgy celebrated in your diocese? If you would like to respond for cvCV /~> possible publication, please write: Faith Alive! 3211 Fourth St. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017-1100. (Redemptorist Father Wallace is a professor of homiletics at Washington Theological Union, Washington, D.C.)