33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Nov. 16, 2008 (Mt. 25:14-30)
Jesus told his disciples this parable: “A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one - to each according to his ability. Then he went away.
“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. But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.
“After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’
“Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’
“Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’
“His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did nor plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ ”
God gave each of us something with which we could make ourselves fruitful. Even the poorest of the poor have been blessed by God. The most common of His gifts to man are life, reason, health and, of course, talents. The talents referred to in this parable means a large amount of money. It is a denomination. Nevertheless, the symbolism of the talents entrusted to the servants may as well be the talents, abilities and other God-given gifts we have.
Just like the servants in the parable, we, too are expected to do something with everything God gave us. We are expected to make ourselves useful. We are supposed to make use of our God-given abilities to help ourselves and others reach our ultimate goal - the Kingdom of God. God's Kingdom requires "good fruits" from us. And we are blessed that God already gave us the "seeds" we can use to make "good fruits". We should not fear because there is nothing to lose. We should be more afraid of the certainty of punishment that will fall on us if we refuse to do anything. The lazy servant in the parable didn't do anything wrong. But he did not do anything right also. He did not do what he was expected to do. His is the sin of omission.
We are Catholic Christians and we are gifted with faith in God. This faith, as non-Catholics often argue, is enough for salvation. Does that mean that, secured by faith, we are only supposed to wait idly for the coming of our Lord? By no means! Our Lord Jesus, in today's parable, tells us that we, as Christians, are supposed to actively anticipate His second coming. It's like the Master is saying, "Make yourself useful while I'm gone."
As I already mentioned, we all have something we need to make fruitful. We are all given many, but different talents and abilities. We are given lots of time in our life. Are we going to just spend a whole lifetime living in fear and, therefore, laziness? Or are we going to live life making full use of our abilities, not being afraid because we are confident in God's help and, therefore, bearing much fruit? We shouldn't be afraid for every mission God gives us is given according to our ability. The popular notion that God doesn't give us challenges that we couldn't overcome holds much truth. So we cannot use any alibi before God.
God, unlike the master in the parable, doesn't abandon us, His servants. He doesn't just leave us with talents without any clue as to what to do with them. Instead, He goes the extra mile and even guides us as we live our lives. When God wills for you to do something, He will guide you the whole journey through, as we witness in the story of the patriarchs in the Old Testament. He will arm us with everything we need, and even accompany us. Therefore, we are obliged to live as God wants us to live, making ourselves fruitful. It is up to us to use our God-given gifts for our development and for us to finally hear God's words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy." (Mt 25:21).
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