Thirty-third
Sunday of Ordinary Time (A) [Mt 25:14-30]
19.11.2023
The Parable of the Talents
1.
Theme in
brief
Our responsibility and
accountability regarding God’s gifts
2. Focus Statement
God has endowed us with so many resources, gifts
and abilities out of his bounty, not for safe-keeping but to freely put them at
the service of his Kingdom as responsible stewards and be accountable to him.
3. Explanation of the text
The Parable of the Talents prescribed for today’s liturgy is used by Matthew as an allegory with word for word application: In this story, the master is Christ himself; his departure refers to Christ’s ascension (25:15); his return after a long time refers to the delay of Second Coming (25:19); faithful slaves are Christians who hear the Word of God and keep it and lazy slave represents those who do not; settling accounts is the last judgement (25:19); and the reward is an entry into the joy of the Master (25:21,23) or joy of the heavenly Kingdom.
In modern English, the word talent, though derived from this parable, has come to mean a skill, aptitude or natural ability that can be improved by diligent practice. But in this parable, it means money or wealth. A talent was not a coin but a solid piece of weight made out of gold, silver or copper. Its value differed according to the metal used. Anyway, five or even two talents meant a large amount of money. Thus in this parable, talents actually do not mean abilities bestowed by the master on three slaves but money which is distributed to them according to their abilities (25:15).
Obviously, this parable points at the following message: the disciples of the Lord have to faithfully carry out the stewardship entrusted to them in a responsible manner between the period of his ascension and Second Coming (Parousia). It speaks about two kinds of disciples: those who responsibly put into use what they have received from God for building up his Kingdom and those who keep it for themselves. Though three slaves are mentioned in the story, the first two belong to the same category of those who invest their talents and double their money. The master commends them for being good and faithful or trustworthy servants (25:21,23). He puts them in charge of many more things and invites them to enter into his ‘joy.’ These slaves exactly correspond to the faithful and wise slave mentioned in a previous parable in Matthew’s gospel (24:45-51), whom the master finds doing what is assigned to him even in his absence.
But the third slave belongs to the category of those who bury or hide their talents (25:25). He does not want to take any risk so that his position remains very secure. Instead of investing his money with the bankers and earning at least interest for it, his bank seems to be just a hole in the ground in which he hides his mater’s money (25:18). He rationalizes his negligence by making excuses. He thinks his master is a harsh task-master (25:24); actually, he is not. He says he is afraid of his master (25:25) – a baseless fear. In fact, he has not understood God as depicted by Jesus – an infinitely compassionate Father. The real reason – which the third servant does not admit – is that he is wicked and lazy (25:26). He ventures nothing and loses everything. His unfaithfulness costs him severely. He is thrown into the outer darkness (25:30). Entering into the “joy of the master” is a reference to the bliss of heaven. Throwing into the outer darkness seems to be a reference to a life to be spent eternally without God, and without joy.
4. Application to life
Again, as the Liturgical Year comes to end, the Church draws our attention to the end-times – the Second Coming of Christ, final judgement, eternal reward and punishment – through the Parable of the Talents. This parable tells us that before Christ will return and final judgement will take place, we should use the Master’s goods in a responsible manner.
God entrusts his “property” (25:14) to our care. In the parable it is also called “talents” (25:15). We can apply the symbol of talents or gifts of God to our lives in various ways: First of all, according to the gospel, the greatest gift God has given us through his Son is the gift of his Kingdom. Though it is a gift it is also a task entrusted to us. We are responsible for its spread and growth by using our potentials. As we saw above, the original meaning of a talent is wealth. As per this meaning, the present parable tells us to invest at least some of our wealth/money and resources for the promotion of God’s Kingdom, instead of investing it fully and totally on our own kingdom.
Secondly, our faith is also another supernatural gift of God. It is not given for safe-keeping; it must be invested daily in the midst of challenges and trials. We are often tempted to choose the values of the world and reject the values of God’s Kingdom such as genuine caring, sharing, serving and making sacrifices for the sake of love. Now that we are in the period of the Master’s absence, our faith is often put to the test until he returns. How do we come out this test? There are times we have failed; and the Lord calls us to greater accountability of the way we used our God-given gift of faith as we reflect on the impermanence of our life..
Thirdly, though the word ‘talent’ originally meant only wealth, when we apply it to spiritual life there is nothing wrong in making an extended application to include in it all God-given gifts and abilities. Hence, as per the meaning the word ‘talent’ has acquired in English, a talent can mean all gifts, aptitudes, skills, abilities, education, power or authority, etc., given by God freely out of his bounty. They are not for safe-keeping but for freely putting them into service of others. The question is whether we use these things for God’s purposes, whether we are responsible like “the good and trustworthy slave” (25:21) or irresponsible like “the wicked and lazy slave” (25:26). What does faithfulness or trustworthiness mean in Matthew’s gospel? When we read his gospel carefully, we come to now that it implies following the Lord and continuing his mission of feeding the hungry, healing the sick, casting out evil, becoming messengers of peace and serving (or doing deeds of mercy to) the least of his brothers and sisters. We need to question whether we use our God-given talents to serve humanity so that they yield fruits, or bury them like the lazy servant. In another sense, power or authority given to various leaders in civil society as well as in the Church and her religious institutions/ organizations is also a gift given by God. They can either use it for greater good or abuse it for personal gains or one’s own prosperity. Whichever way they use, they are accountable for it.
Fourthly, the word ‘talents’ could also be taken to include our bodily gifts such as various parts of the body; mental gifts such as mind, knowledge and wisdom; material gifts such as land and property; spiritual gifts such as love, service, sacrifice, mercy, forgiveness, justice, peace, etc. How (for whom or for what) do we use them? For example, love must be given by showing active concern for others; peace should be established by reconciliation; mercy should be shown towards the needy and the erring; justice should be done to those who are oppressed; etc. Among mental faculties, human mind is the most marvellous gift. As Robin Sharma has put it: “The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master… (It) is truly like any other muscle in your body. Use it or lose it.” The question is whether we discipline our mind to make it our servant so that it becomes highly motivated to work for the welfare of others, and to use its potentials for building up God’s Kingdom. Or do we permit it to be our master that drives us to the confines of our own little and selfish world?
We are the stewards appointed by God to manage his goods and are called to cooperate with him actively to build up communities based on the Kingdom-values. God’s Kingdom can come only when we pass it on to others what we have received freely from God out of his bounty. If we use God’s gifts only for our selfish purposes, we fail to become like the first two good and trustworthy servants. As God’s stewards we are responsible and accountable to God whether we put all these gifts to proper and maximum use for his and humanity’s service, or keep them for ourselves. Faithful stewards (servants) are those who use all the gifts and talents given by God for others’ service; lazy ones are those who keep them idle or buried.
Unlike the third servant who took no risks at all, we have to take risks to put God’s gifts and talents into use rather than scrupulously preserving (burying) them. Like him we should not be so obsessed with our own security that we are not willing to venture into any risk, even a smaller one which does not put our life in danger. If we are constantly alert or vigilant to meet the Master at his return, naturally we shall not remain lazy but take bold and fruitful actions in favour of God’s Kingdom or its values. In other words, we shall carefully and diligently exercise our talents in service of humanity, especially of the poor and the marginalized. Hence, investment of our talents makes us vigilant and vigilance makes us translate our talents into fruitful service.
The third servant was after all not a bad character.
He did not waste his master’s wealth in eating, drinking, merry-making,
gambling, or in consumerism,
such as going on acquiring the latest Smartphones from the market.
He did not commit any sin either. He is
like those who do no harm to anybody; at the same time do not do any good
either. He resembles those who observe all the rules or scrupulously preserve
all the traditions but spend none of their resources, time and energy to look
for the lost sheep, to bandage the wounds of the man fallen on the roadside, to
stoop down to wash one another’s feet, etc. He also represents those who stick
to the principle, “Old is gold” and oppose any change without
bothering to redefine
age-old traditions that are not in tune with the signs of the times. He also
represents those who profess to be disciples of Christ or profess to follow him
in a radical
manner but fail to live their life with a difference. The main question the
Eternal Auditor will ask at the end of our lives is: “How much of your
resources, grits and talents did you use for the growth or promotion of my
Kingdom?” Experts say that average persons use only 10% of their mind
potentials and 90% are buried inside them. This is especially true when one
gets everything freely even if one does not work, and is not made accountable
for one’s non-performance.
What counts before God is our faithfulness in putting our talents into use and not the amount received. Like the first two servants who were given unequal (five and two) talents, God does not bestow on all of us necessarily equal gifts and talents, we are called to use whatever is given to us to the best of our ability and for God’s glory. Instead of comparing our talents with others and becoming jealous of the better gifts possessed by them we should think of our own personal responsibility to make the best use of our gifts. We may not be equal to others in talents but can be equal in our efforts. Then we too will be counted among the good and trustworthy servants of God. Sometimes faithful service may lead to increased responsibilities in God’s Kingdom.
How true is the dictum: “Risk nothing, lose everything.” Jesus says that all those who already have, more will be given, and those who nothing, even that will be taken away (25:29). If we do not put into service our gifts and talents, however little they may be, we risk losing them. For example, if we know how to play a musical instrument a little, if we teach the little we know to others, we become more experts in it besides helping others. Again, how true is the dictum, “Use it or lose it.”
5. Response to
God's Word
Do we use God’s gifts and talents responsibly so that when the Lord comes to settle accounts with us we can hear from him: “Well done, good and trustworthy servant?” Is our faith in Christ for safekeeping or for investment? Should we not regret for the times we remained idle and failed to act when we came across so much suffering and misery or so many human needs in front of our eyes? Do we yield fruits like the faithful servants, or avoid all risks by burying our talents like the lazy servant? Are we proactive or passive Christians? Do we take some risks so that the Kingdom yields fruits, or preserve it as it is.
6. A prayer
Lord, make us your good and faithful servants. Grant that the investment of our talents for your and humanity’s service make us more and more vigilant for your coming. At the end of our life’s journey, may we be found worthy to get the reward of eternal joy with you, according to your promise. Amen.
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