A couple of years ago I had the wonderful opportunity of visiting New Orleans, Memphis and Nasville. Top of my bucket list was a visit to Graceland, home of my boyhood idol, The King. Before I headed out to Graceland, I visited Sun Studios in Memphis, where Elvis got his first recording. Our bubbly guide gave us a tour of the Sun Studios and we ended up in the recording room. We were standing all around and I did not realise where I was standing there was an X marked on the floor. Our guide was explaining about Elvis’s breakthrough and she said, when he came he stood exactly here where I was standing. That evening, when I was filling in my diary, thanking God for the wonderful day I had, I said a little prayer to God; if only I could play the guitare and sing like Elvis, it would be a wonderful asset for my ministry as a priest. I felt that God was saying to me, when you sing, sing with your own voice, if I want Elvis, I’ll listen to Elvis. In the gospel today, Jesus tells us the parable of the talents. A talent was a great sum of money; one man received five, another two, another one. Two used their talents very well, and one did not. Was he envious?, was he lazy? he buried his talent. Jesus tells us to be aware of the gifts we have received, do we use our talents just for ourselves? we should never use them just for our vanity or pride; never use them to feel better than somebody else. A talent is really a talent when we share it, when we use it to help someone, make them happy; a gift is not to be buried. We are living in a culture of go-getters, we should be go-givers. A young boy asked his dad how much he earns an hour, his father got upset. I don’t even tell your mother that. The boy insisted, I earn €50 an hour. Can you give me €20 please? Father was upset and sent him to bed as he was watching a game, he felt guilty afterwards, went up to the boy, maybe he wanted to buy something for me, he gave the boy €20. What do you want to do with it? The boy reached under his pillow, took out €30, can I buy an hour of your time please? Do we give of our time? Do we reach out to our family and friends, especially during these challenging times when conectedness is so important for all of us? Ask yourself: is there some talent that you have buried? Do I have some treasure inside me that I have never used? Do I envy other people with their talents, without realising what I have? Have I learnt to sing with my own voice and not with someone else’s? When we do this, we can hear Jesus say to us as he says in the gospel today; Well done good and faithful servant.