November 19^th 2017. Thirty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 25, 14-30

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Matthew 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 not 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.'

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In the Gospel, a man is about to embark on a journey and he entrusts his servants with five talents, two talents and one talent respectively. At the time of Jesus, a talent was worth 33 kilos of gold – a genuine fortune! This man is giving his entire wealth to his servants! This makes us think immediately of the Lord Jesus who bestows on us incredible gifts and immeasurable graces. But why do some people respond well to God’s gifts, while others respond in a mediocre and half-hearted way? The answer is given by the third servant. He tells the master than he buried the talent because he was afraid of him. “You are a demanding master, sowing where you do not reap”. This attitude to God is at the root of our mediocrity. We do not enter into the grace that Jesus gives us because we are suspicious of the Lord. We think that he is really looking for something from us! We suspect that God is only giving to us so that he can get something from us that we really don’t want to give. This image of God is unfounded and offensive! The Lord has emptied himself for us, but out of his infinite generosity, not so that he can gain something in return! It is true that he wishes us to respond, however, if he is to bestow even more blessings on us. That is why the first two servants receive even more bounty because they “were faithful in small matters”. This Sunday let us banish from our minds the image of a demanding God and reflect on his love and mercy.

The readings speak of God’s invitation to use the gifts he has given us. Some respond well to God’s call and others do not respond at all. Why?

In the first reading we hear of an industrious lady who is able to achieve wonderful things from that which is allotted to her. The reading holds up the beauty of fruitful works, and the joy they bring to others. It is a privilege to work and it one of the things that gives meaning to our lives. The Gospel reading presents the famous parable of the talents in which a number of people are called to work. We hear of people who accept their call to work and manage to produce wonderful results, and we hear of another who does not respond to the call. How can we understand the reasons behind these contrasting attitudes?

A man distributes enormous wealth to his servants. The Lord Jesus, similarly, gives us immeasurable gifts

A man is embarking on a journey and he decides to distribute his goods: five talents, two talents and one talent, according to the capacities of the recipients. But just how much is a talent? If we go to any Bible with tables of information at the back, we will discover that, at the time of Jesus, a talent corresponded to 33 kilos of gold. Thus, we are talking about a real fortune. The man has handed over his entire wealth to these men. Of course, this man is to be compared to the Lord Jesus. Jesus does not give us small favours. He entrusts us with immense gifts, with unlimited graces, with the power of the sacraments - which is enormous in comparison to the smallness of our lives. So we receive these immeasurable gifts from God and some of us put these gifts to work. Often we meet people who have received some special grace from the Church or from Divine Providence, and they have entered into this grace. But why do some people not enter into the grace that they have been given? Even the man who received one talent has received something virtually immeasurable. What prevents him from using it?

The servant does not use what the master has given him because he fears the master. He thinks that the master is not really giving him a genuine gift but is actually demanding something difficult from him

Let us examine the psychology of this servant when the master speaks to him. The servant replies, “I know that you are a demanding person, reaping where you do not sow and gathering where you do not scatter. I was afraid and went and hid your talent under the ground. Here it is back”. The servant is afraid to enter into the great affairs of God because he is afraid of God! This is what makes people mediocre, and indeed this servant is an image of the mediocre Christian, the person who does not open the doors, who does things in a tepid and half-hearted way. Why does this person fear God? Because he thinks that God’s gifts are just ways of camouflaging demands, that God’s gifts are really traps. If God is calling me to an encounter with grace, perhaps it is because he wants to exploit me?  He wants to gather where he has not scattered. He is demanding and wants more from me than he will ultimately give.

The servant’s image of his master is the same mistaken image that many of us have of God. We think God is looking for something from us. God does not deserve this image! He is fundamentally someone who gives to us without end. He only wants us to respond to him so that he can give us even more!

This servant highlights a mistaken image of God. We tend to think of God as someone who appears to be giving us a talent, but who knows what he really wants? We look on God with suspicion. The Lord, with all his generosity, does not deserve to have this image! With all of us God is patient and generous, the very opposite to demanding. The mercy of God covers so many of our faults! If the Lord really kept an account of our deeds, who would be saved? The image of God presented by the servant as a demanding and pretentious tyrant is aberrant and unacceptable. It is the image of a God who wants something from us. Do we really think God needs anything from us? What could we give him? But when God gives to us it is only so that he can give us even more. In the case of the other two servants, the master replies, “You have been faithful in small matters”. For the Lord, the enormous quantity represented by the talents is nothing; he has so much more that he wishes to give us! When he offers something, it is solely out of generosity, not because he wants something in return.

This Sunday let us reflect on the generosity and patience of God and banish from our minds the image of a God who is demanding and vengeful

This Sunday let us enter into the truth about our heavenly Father, that which is revealed to us in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is gratuity in person. Jesus holds nothing back and gives everything for us, even offering up his life on our account. We have no grounds for reasoning in the suspicious manner of the third servant. Why are we mediocre? Because we are suspicious of God and we therefore do not abandon ourselves to him. Mediocrity is widely diffused in Christianity and is fundamentally derived from an offensive and unacceptable image of God.