"Come, share your Master's joy!"
Matthew 25: 14 - 30
The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111520.cfm
When we think of “talents” we most often think of two things: either money or our natural abilities, gifts, or talents as we may call them. So more traditionally, the parable from Matthew we’ve heard today about the five, two, and one talent that the master gave to his servants expecting them to invest them and return them to him with some sort of profit, is often used to be a symbol of these natural abilities we have. To use them wisely and make smart use of what God gives us. While all of that is true and good advice, we may also see talents as a measure of weight.
As a measure of weight they can also be seen as heavy
responsibility for the gifts that are given.
The gift may not be so much natural abilities but rather God’s lavish
love and mercy extended to every one of us.
The “weightiness” of God means that the mission of the Church has been
entrusted to the disciples, meaning it is the mission we all have. It bears a great weight, a great
responsibility to do our part.
This parable is set in Matthew as Jesus’ last speech to
his disciples. The talents given represent the charge to spread and live the Gospel
and to create among believers communities of disciples.
So, we can understand Jesus parable on the
"talents" is a reference to the spiritual treasure he has entrusted
to us as we live out our missionary discipleship. He uses this example as an
illustration of a deeper principle of spiritual growth and our privilege to
multiply the message of the Gospel beyond ourselves. Case in point:
A talent was an enormous amount of money. One talent represented an entire lifetime of wages. So, if one servant was given five talents that would be five lifetimes of wages! Another was given two – two lifetimes. And even one was given one good lifetime, generously. Either way, all have received and the master wanted to see what they would now do with their windfall.
What portion of the Gospel message have we been given? How wise have
we been, how creative or enterprising in living it out. Have we produced more
than what we received through nurturing our spiritual lives, sharing the
message of the good news of the Gospel of Jesus, participating more fully in
the works of the Church and reaching out to those in need around us? Or have we simply sat on our gift and done
nothing? So, this story is a kind of wakeup call for all of us.
Right now, in the present conditions we are under, we are
all feeling a great weight. The
heaviness of this entire year of 2020 has born down upon us. The imposed restrictions on Church worship,
in particular our present time, have challenged every one of us to ask, “why?” Maybe the better question is to ask “what.” What can we do in the face of the situation
to make things better and continue to be who we are as Christians who stand up
in the face of injustice.
We’ve worked too long and too hard to create a safe zone
in our Churches of good health, worship and fellowship. And now, once again we are being told arbitrarily
that it’s not good enough even though the data consistently shows otherwise. So,
what should we do in the face of what God has given us – the treasure of our
faith. How can we continue to act as responsible Christians but also not passively
roll over. We will be judged by the master for how we acted, how we invested
our God given treasure.
Like the wise servants who risked their masters money and
received back far more, so too we are called to generosity, to selflessness, to
other centered love, to time in prayer with God, to participation in the
sacramental life of the Church, to do far more than just show up. Otherwise, we are like the servant who did
nothing with what he was given. It's all pretty clear.
One application, might be as to how we might view the
Church in such things as pastoral care, liturgy, the life of a parish. Pope St. John XXIII once stated: "We are not on earth to guard a museum
but to cultivate a flourishing garden of life."
We must share what we have received and in that way take
a risk but to do this for God, to please him, and to grow more abundantly in
his grace and understanding.
The life of the Spirit to which we are all called is a
marked life of prayer, charity towards others, participation in the life of the
Sacraments and the Church. Reflection on
the Scriptures and other ways in which we invite the grace of God to invest
itself in us in order that it may grow in us and we have far more of Christ in
us, then our self in us.
Next week’s Gospel, for the Feast of Christ the King (Mt
25: 31-46) is the final chord struck in the lessons of this parable as it
follows today’s story directly in Matthew. We will hear the words: “gave me . . . clothed me . . . cared for me
. . . welcomed me . . . visited me . . .”
What have you done with the Master’s treasure?
Grant us, we pray, O Lord our God,
the constant gladness of being devoted to you,
for it is full and lasting happiness
to serve with constancy
the author of all that is good.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever.
(Collect of Mass)
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