Sunday November 15th 2020: Read Br Michael’s Gospel Reflection The 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gifts and Talents
Whether one is a child or an adult, we all love opening gifts at Christmas or when it’s our birthday. Think of the joy and expectation when opening the present and the surprise when what is inside is finally revealed. It is not only the person who opens the gift who experiences this joy; the one who buys, wraps and gives the present also shares in the excitement and happiness.
There is a sense of this in the parable that Jesus offers us today. A merchant before going on a trip calls three of his servants and gives each of them amount of money or gold, called a ‘talent’. To the first he gives five; the second receives three and the third is given one. The first invests his money and doubles it; the second does the same with his. However, the servant who receives one piece of gold simply buries it in ground. The merchant returns and calls in his servants. The first gives back the five talents plus the five he made. The second also gives back the three he received plus the three he had made. The last servant dug his one up and gave back exactly what he received, no more no less. The merchant is overjoyed with the first two servants; to both he says, ‘Well done good and faithful servant.’ However, with last servant he is simply disappointed that he did nothing with what he was given.
On the face of it, this is a simple parable, but a closer look reveals that it contains a much deeper challenge from Jesus to each of us today. A parable is offered like a mirror into which we are called to look so that we can see and learn something new about ourselves. We are being asked to see ourselves in this parable. The point is not to argue that God gives more gifts to some than others, but to accept that God gives each person different gifts. The gifts and talents that I have been given have not been given to anyone else.
As scripture tells us; there is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of services to be done, but always the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people.’ (1 Cor. 12)
Each of us has been given a variety of gifts and talents by God.
The question being asked is whether or not we are using them to the best of our ability or are we simply burying and refusing to use them. Like those in the gospel, we have a choice to make with the gifts we have been given. We can develop and use them to help ourselves and others grow or we can bury and hide them in the dark where they will do no one any good. The choice is ours, but we will be held accountable and responsible for whatever decision we make, just like those in the gospel.
Perhaps the most precious and sacred of gifts that we have been is the gift of faith. Like any gift that we have been given, faith only becomes valuable when it used, developed and shared. Faith is not static, stable or sterile. It is vibrant and energetic. As we read in the 2nd. Letter of Timothy; I am reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift that God gave you. God’s gift was not a spirit of gentleness but a spirit of power…’ (2. Tim. 6)
Through his love for us God has granted and gifted us with life and faith, what we do with these two most precious of gifts is our gift back to God.
How can I use my gifts and talents this week to help and support those around me?
– Br Michael Moore OMI
| Gospel |
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| Matthew 25:14-30 © |
You have been faithful in small things: come and join in your master’s happiness
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