Year “A” - Sunday 13.11.2005

Proverbs 31:10-13,19-20,30-31

Psalm 127

1Thessalonians 5:1-6

Matthew 25:14-30

Reflections
In the Parable of the Talents (Gospel) there is a call to take stock, at the end of a liturgical year and the imminence of a new start. First of all there is the generosity and trust of the master who leaves his goods with his servants (v.14): and the talents were considerable amounts, given to “each according to his ability” (v.15). There is also the gift of time, indeed, a “long time” (v.19). The Master is God, is Jesus himself; the servants are the members of the Christian community; the time is whatever will elapse before the end of the world – it is the time of the Church. The talents are the gifts given out by God to each one and the treasures that Christ has given to the Church: the Gospel to be proclaimed as message of salvation to create a new humanity and to transform the world; the gift of the Spirit who “renews the face of the earth” (Ps.104:30); the gift of the Sacraments; the power to purify, heal, console, reconcile... a wealth of gifts that is really at the heart of the Day of Thanksgiving.

The parable of the Talents is a powerful urging to make God’s gifts bear fruit, whether at a personal level: the gifts of health, intelligence, emotions, food, nature, spiritual life and faith; or at the levels of human community and of Church. Jesus tells us that He expects fruits: “I came that they may have life, and abundantly” (Jn.10:10); and he chooses his own followers so that they can go and bear fruit – fruit that will last (Jn.15:16). At the time of giving account, the praise of the owner go to the servants who have been active and creative in making a profit with the goods given them. The unacceptable attitude is that of the servant who is closed in his own world (v.18) and suspicious (v.25-26), his ideas are wrong, he does not trust the master (v.24), he is lazy, not committed, afraid to take risks.

To understand the parable properly, we have to overcome a commercial mentality with two aspects: a moralistic kind, as though good works alone can bring salvation, whereas it is given us quite freely (we will come back to this later); or the logic of productivity of a neo-liberal capitalistic type. The First Reading corrects this outlook: the praise of the perfect woman extols her human and domestic abilities as wife and mother, but especially her open-handedness towards the poor (v.20) and her God-fearing attitude (v.30). The qualities of intelligence, enterprise and efficiency must go together with a solid moral and religious backing, which helps people to: avoid forms of selfishness; overcome competitiveness with solidarity, and the accumulation of wealth with sharing; to extend the benefits of riches to other people, to the human community and to the world around us.
Laziness and lack of commitment are unacceptable attitudes, especially as regards the gift of faith and the consequent missionary responsibility to proclaim the Gospel, which is the task of each baptised person, so that the world may not lack the light, the salt and the leaven that are necessary for humanity to live a better life. It is not enough to be ‘keepers of the Word’ out of fear of risk or lack of initiative; the gift of Faith commits Catholics to be proclaimers of the Gospel of Jesus and the benefits of salvation who are generous and full of initiative. Pope Paul VI has a severe warning for those who neglect the missionary mandate to proclaim Jesus Christ: they are putting at risk even their personal salvation and the survival of their communities. *

The prize given to the servants who are active and show ability in making the gifts they have received bear fruit, remains in the realm of free-gift and of joy (v.21.23) that goes with service of the Gospel. “Faith is not something to be kept in a safe to protect it, it is life, expressed in love of and dedication to others. In the Gospels, to be afraid is the equivalent of being without faith... The parable of the Talents teaches us that a Catholic life, not based on formality, self-protection and fear, but on spontaneity, courage and a feeling for others, constitutes the joy of the Lord. And our own.” (Gustavo Gutiérrez). The call of St. Paul (2nd Reading) to live as children of the light and to stay awake (v.5-6) is along the same lines. Only through the giving of oneself, through effort, courage and spontaneity, make people and community grow and become strong and mature.

The Pope's Words
* “It would be useful if every Christian and every evangeliser were to pray about the following thought: men can gain salvation also in other ways, by God’s mercy, even though we do not preach the Gospel to them; but as for us, can we gain salvation if through negligence or fear or shame- what St. Paul called ‘blushing for the Gospel’ (Rm.1:16) - or as a result of false ideas we fail to preach it? For that would be to betray the call of God, who wishes the seed to bear fruit through the voice of the ministers of the Gospel; and it will depend on us whether this grows into trees and produces its full fruit”.

Paul VI
Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975), n. 80

In the steps of missionaries
- 13/11 (or on other dates): “Thanksgiving Day” to God for His gifts.
- 15/11: St. Albert the Great (Cologne, +1280), a Dominican, Bishop, man of peace, Doctor of the Church and Patron of those who study natural sciences. He brought together human sciences and theological studies.
- 15/11: Bl. Mary of the Passion (Elena) de Chappotin de Neuville (1839-1904), a French nun who went to India as a missionary, and founded the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary.
- 17/11: Sts. Roque González, Alfonso Rodríguez and Juan del Castillo, Jesuit martyrs in the Paraguayan “Reductions” (+1628), killed for their missionary commitment and their work to promote the native peoples.
- 18/11: St. Filippina Rose Duchesne (1769-1852), a French nun who was a missionary in the USA, where she founded a number of schools. She died in the State of Missouri.

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Editor: Fr. Romeo Ballan, mcci - Former Director of CIAM, Rome

Website: www.ciam.org http://www.ciam.org/ “Word for Mission”

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