What Talents Do You Have?

   

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

19 November 2023

 

First Reading: Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5

Second Reading: 1 Thes 5:1-6

Gospel: Mt 25:14-30

 

Reflection

By: Carlo Alexis Malaluan

 

The Gospel for today is a continuation of the parables told by Jesus. Last Sunday, we saw the parable of the ten virgins who waited for the Bridegroom with their lamps. Today, we are presented with the parables of the talents. The parable tells us that each servant is given a different amount, according to their ability. It is a wonderful lesson of how we are called to use God’s gifts for His glory. It’s also a firm reminder of God’s expectations of His children and how His expectations vary according to our ability.

The Parable of the Talents taught by Jesus is urging us to be ready for the master’s return. Jesus is that master who went on a journey when He ascended to heaven. After a long time, the master, Jesus, will return which is either at the moment of our death or at His Second Coming. Whenever He comes again, we will stand before Him with our talents. The talents were not distributed to each servant equally in the parable. However, we have to understand that what we have received from God is not something small but is gigantic. A talent as well, as being a unit of weight, was also currency, and its value was 6,000 day’s wages, twenty years wages. The servants are receiving something that is gigantic in their times. What God gives us is equally colossal and priceless. We have received so much from God that we take for granted.

We are asked to make most of the “talents” we have received from the goodness of God. How so? Through sharing. The talents given to the three servants are not so much monetary gifts or personal capacities; they are a share in the goodness of God, a participation in His divine love. They are meant to be shared. In fact, they will increase precisely in the measure that they are given to others. Most of the time, we have failed to see and cultivate the gifts that were given to us. It is because we are afraid to explore our capacities or worse, unwilling to share the grace we have received. The problem with the timid servant who buried his talent is not that he was an ineffective venture capitalist but that he fundamentally misunderstood the nature of what he had been given. The Divine Mercy—received as a pure gift—is meant to be given to others as a pure gift. Buried in the ground, that is to say, hugged tightly to oneself as one’s own possession. Burying it or keeping to oneself loses the very essence of the gift we have received—it fails to grow, it remains stagnant and futile. How often we are paralyzed by fear or false prudence into doing nothing, into trying to preserve ourselves! Sometimes, we don’t take God’s gifts seriously or think we have been given very little, and we use that as a rationalization for making no effort or producing little for God. We blame circumstances or others, but the fact is we are neglecting to produce the fruits God wants. The servants who invest their talents and make a return on them have understood the purpose of their lives and the time they have at their disposal. These servants were generous with everything their master had given them, making it bear fruit, and they received from him the reward of greater intimacy and more responsibility.

There is no difference between those who have received more and those who have received less. All have their gift according to their capacity. What is important is that this gift be placed at the service of the Kingdom and make the goods of the Kingdom grow. These gifts are love, fraternal spirit, sharing.

Prayer

God, Our Father, help us to see the gigantic talents that You have given to each of us so we can cultivate it, share it to others, and bear fruit when You return. All these we ask through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.