It is 15th November 2020. We celebrate the Thirty Third Sunday of Ordinary Time. The readings are from Proverbs 31:10-13.19-20.30-31; the second reading is from 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6; and the Gospel from Matthew 25:14-30.
It is the last ordinary Sunday of the Church year. It is not the end but about the preparations we need entering our second Lent.
The book of Proverb speaks the noble qualities of a worthy wife who fears the Lord. She made a remarkable difference by shining qualities of serving humanity and God. Diligence and smart working are the indicators of a good wife who keeps herself busy and productive. The reading encourages not to be satisfied be skilled, we need to have the upskilling and reskilling. It is not how much money we have made in our life but how grateful we have become by appreciating and thanking God for all that we are. A productive person never sits idle but becomes trustworthy by being faithful, productive, willing to learn, save money to help the needy, avoiding gossip and foolish choices and never forget to value spiritual life and eventually noticed by people around the person and recognised and showered with appreciation.
St. Paul prepares our minds to be ready facing the day of the Lord at any time of our life. The final assessment, analysis and judgment will dawn on us when we are least prepared. It comes like a thief. The second coming of the Lord is certain and so we need to be prepared not scared and frightened to face the Lord who trusted us with life and filled us grace. We are the children of God and therefore we need to rejoice the return of the Lord. Our false hope and security will be scrutinized. The best way to prepare ourselves for the Lord’s Second coming, we need to live up to the call. It is time to be alert, active and attentive to welcome the Lord.
In the Gospel, we are expected to multiply the talents and resources entrusted to us and make a difference in the world with whatever is given to us. The Gospel presents us with two stories reminding the need to be watchful and the parable of the talents. Our fruitfulness depends on our faithfulness. This parable symbolically throws some light on the final judgement. Three servants entrusted with the riches of the master according to their capacity and ability in the master’s view. Each talent is equivalent to fifteen years of the wage earned by an ordinary worker. Master never told them that he would ask for an account of the riches on his return. We all have received from the Lord too.
Two servants wisely invested the sum and doubling what was entrusted to them and the master was pleased with their way, the attitude, the responsibility, and creativity in enriching what was entrusted to them. He not only invited them to share the joy but entrusted with them much more. Because they become so productive and responsible, they no longer remain a servant or a slave but a member of the household of the master.
The third servant did something which angered the master. He hid the money in the ground and never wanted to take risk of investing. God has blessed us with life, and we expected to return our life holy and blameless to him. Since he acted irresponsibly giving excuses, the master took even what was given and threw him out in dungeon.
By baptism, we have received the courage to encourage others. Since we are trusted so much, we are entrusted with so much more. Because we have faith, we transcend to be faithful. All of us are vested with qualities and that is why God has invested fearlessly on us.
The responsorial Psalm praises, “Happy are those who fear the Lord.” (Ps.127:1).
All these readings sum up some salient lessons for our personal, spiritual and communal life.
Unless we use it, we lose it. we are all entrusted with the talents to invest and multiply not to hoard them and sleep over it. The more we empty ourselves, even more, we are filled. We need to take a risk of losing what we have in order to acquire what we dream to have. It is not worth comparing with the others and entering a self-destructive dialogue. The comparison kills enthusiasm to be different. We cannot be determined by the past and the experiences of pain and loss. God never entrusted us with any condition so explicitly but at the final analysis, God has the right to know what did we do with our life, faith, love, the capacity to forgive, learn and to be different. The final judgement is the account of how we treated others and things entrusted accordingly we will be rated and ranked in the master’s house. For the ones who make more work never end and there is no substitute for smart work.
Pope Francis teaches us that the Parable of the Talents reminds us of personal responsibility and of faithfulness that even becomes the ability to continually set out anew, walking new paths, without “burying the talent”, that is, the gifts which God has entrusted to us, and for which he will call us to account.
May the Lord help us to face Him without fear by constantly making the difference we all can make. Have a lovely day. God bless you.