33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 15, 2020

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Gospel: Matthew 25:14–30

Theme: What are you willing to risk for God?

Matthew 25:14–30

[The Parable of the Talents]

“It will be as when a man who was going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one—to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

“Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two. But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.

“After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’

“[Then] the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’

“Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’

“His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’”

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

From Thomas Merton:

Teach me to go to this country beyond words and beyond names.
Teach me to pray on this side of the frontier, here where these woods are.
I need to be led by you.
I need my heart to be moved by you.
I need my soul to be made clean by your prayer. I need my will to be made strong by you.
I need the world to be saved and changed by you.
I need you for all those who suffer, who are in prison, in danger, in sorrow.
I need you for all the crazy people.
I need your healing hand to work always in my life.
I need you to make me, as you made your Son, a healer, a comforter, a savior.
I need you to name the dead.
I need you to help the dying cross their particular rivers.
I need you for myself whether I live or die.
It is necessary.
Amen.

Companions for the Journey

Parables
  • The meaning of most parables is not so obvious, or at least it shouldn’t be. If we assume we know what Jesus is talking about, we are probably missing the main point; if we are too familiar with the story (having heard it so often before), we might not think carefully enough about its real meaning.
  • Most parables contain some element that is strange or unusual. They should cause you to say, “Wait a minute! That’s not how farmers do their work! Wealthy landowners would not give such astronomical sums of money to underlings with so few instructions! That’s not what normally happens in nature!” And this strange element should cause you to think.
  • Parables do not define things precisely, but rather use comparisons to describe some aspect of how God acts or interacts with human beings. Yet to say “A is like B” does not mean that “A is identical to B in all respects”; so one should be careful not to misinterpret or misapply the parables. Some would say that parables should be treated as allegory, not metaphor or simile.
  • We might think that Jesus spoke in parables to make it easier for people to understand his message. According to the Gospels, however, he surprisingly does NOT expect everyone to understand them! In Matthew, at least the disciples of Jesus understand the parables; but in Mark, even they have a hard time understanding, despite receiving extra instructions in private.

(Adapted from A short analysis by James C. Christensen)

Parables were meant to catch Jesus’ listeners off guard, to make them re-evaluate their normal ways of behaving, and to align their hearts with God’s heart. Many parables, like the one about the Pharisee and the Publican, or the one about the Good Samaritan, employed elements which were very counter-cultural, and shocking to the people of Jesus’ time. In the story of the talents, the master reprimands the last servant for not investing money and charging interest on it. However, every one of Jesus’ listeners would have known that this practice is forbidden in scripture (Exodus 22:25’ Leviticus 25:35-28). This would be a huge red flag to the listener that something is going on here.

In our own case, because we have grown up with them, the details of the parables seem familiar or even ordinary to us, and we don’t experience the shock value of the stories. Often, we need to translate those stories using examples from our own social and cultural situations in order to see how truly counter-cultural they are.

These parables, which appear to be simple and straightforward stories, are actually multi-dimensional and complex. Frequently, we are left with things unresolved and have to make some conclusions of our own. Does the elder brother ever go in to join the party welcoming the prodigal son home? How do those in the vineyard who worked much longer hours respond to the words of the vineyard owner? Does the Good Samaritan return, and what happens to the victim? Does the Pharisee ever understand his spiritual arrogance? Once they get inside, do the five “wise” virgins enjoy the banquet, knowing that their sisters are still outside? Why DID a guest at the wedding feast show up poorly attired and refuse to explain why? Why was a servant actually punished when he did not waste or lose any of the landowner’s money? How we resolve those issues in our own minds tells us a lot about our own attitudes. Are they in line with God’s or not?

If there is some overall wisdom to be gleaned from parables, it is this: God’s ways are not our ways. Parables tell us that the fight for the kingdom is not played out in palaces and war rooms, but in the everyday events of our everyday lives. “The struggle for the kingdom is carried out in our divided hearts, where we sometimes mutter “Thy kingdom come” without fully realizing that we might have to pray “My kingdom go.” (Alan Redpath, British Baptist Preacher). The parable demands that each of us answer the question “What do YOU say? What is YOUR reaction to this story and why?” How we answer defines our moral landscape.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Well done, my good and faithful servant

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • By Jude Siciliano, O.P.:
    Do I treat my faith as something fragile, keeping it close and protected as if it will break if brought out into the open?
    In my daily life, how venturesome before others am I with my faith?
  • List some gifts or “talents” you have. Do you consider them to have been given or to have been lent? What is the difference?
    Do you use your talents for your own aggrandizement and success, or do you put them at the disposal of those who need help in some way?
  • If you were told to lay your biggest accomplishment thus far before God, what would it be? What does this tell you about yourself?
  • This parable might not be about some specific talents we might use for God. It might be about committing all that we have.
    Is there anything I am holding back out of fear, greed, selfishness?
    Are there people in our community who are giving way more than is expected of them?
  • What is God’s “property” that has been entrusted to me—the natural world itself, my loved ones, the poor and downtrodden, my career, for example?
    Are the talents I have been loaned by God for this life His property or mine?
  • Why do you think the master rewards the man with two talents the same as the man with five talents?
  • What does it mean to “reap what you do not sow” and “gather where you did not scatter seed”?”
    The master is also willing to earn money at the expense of others… does this sound like God to you?
    In your mind is Jesus more like the exacting master or more like a shepherd?
  • What was the final servant’s motive for being so cautious?
    Did he see his job as basically to do the master’s bidding, or something else? Would we call him a phony?
  • In what ways am I too tentative or too cautious in working for the kingdom?
    In what ways do I bury my “talent” so that it doesn’t get in the way of my real life?
    Am I risk-averse?
    Have I been so preoccupied with my own life (family, fears, health, relationships, money, etc) that I lost track of my mission on this earth?
  • We think of talents as natural gifts, but in this time and in this parable, it means something of value.
    Could one’s reputation be a “talent”?
    We speak of gifts of the Spirit (Charisms). How might these be talents?
  • Do I see the word “talents” as opportunities God has given me? For what purpose?
    Have I seen any opportunities that have come my way to enhance the Kingdom?
  • Are these opportunities always recognized, or always welcomed? Can bad luck be an opportunity?
    Do I control my opportunities or does God?
    Do I sense any urgency in the choices I make?
  • Do the talents I possess make me careless or arrogant?
    What “talents” have I been given to use for the good of God’s kingdom?
    What, in fact IS my true vocation?
  • If the word “talent” were a metaphor for the servant’s true vocation and he buried it so no one could see it, how might that relate to my own life?
    We are either trading with our talents or burying them in the ground. What do I chose?
    Have I ever kept some of what I have been entrusted with as something for my own gain, my own use?
  • What, exactly, is the “joy” we are promised? (Satisfaction, good luck, success, feeling of a mission accomplished, etc.)

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican style/Asking Questions:

Read Psalm 112:

1Alleluia!
Blessed the man who fears the Lord, who takes great delight in his commandments.
2His descendants shall be powerful on earth; the generation of the upright will be blest.
3Riches and wealth are in his house; his justice stands firm forever.
4A light rises in the darkness for the upright; he is generous, merciful, and just.
5It goes well for the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice.
6He will never be moved; forever shall the just be remembered.
7He has no fear of evil news; with a firm heart, he trusts in the Lord.
8With a steadfast heart he will not fear; he will see the downfall of his foes.
9Openhanded, he gives to the poor; his justice stands firm forever. His might shall be exalted in glory.
10The wicked sees and is angry, grinds his teeth and fades away; the desire of the wicked leads to doom.

Compare the behavior that is the outcome of fear of the Lord in this psalm with the behavior of the last servant in the parable of the talents. Here are two different meanings of the word “fear”. In many ways, these differing attitudes are the result of how I think of God: Am I visioning a God who asks me to risk wildly for the sake of the kingdom, or am I visioning a God who is primarily the judge who tallies up my sins? My answer also depends on my culture, my personality, and my worldview: If I see the world as a treacherous place luring me into sin, and if I would prefer not to risk making mistakes, I have one view. On the other hand, if I see the world as full of opportunities to grow personally and opportunities to make a difference, if I think it is a failure never to risk failure by stretching myself, then I have another view.

When you think of your relationship with God, which of these meanings fits your own personal behavior? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

This parable is more than an exhortation to use well our qualities. It is about the kingdom, which has been entrusted to the disciples and thence to us, as Jesus embarked on his journey away from earthly life. When Jesus returns, he will expect his servants to have put to work the riches he has entrusted to us. How has the Catholic Church done in this regard? What events or people, especially, have mirrored the mission of growing the Kingdom? What events or people have not? In our own individual lives, we have inherited this command from Jesus. How do I interpret this commission Jesus left me with? What actions are required of me in this world here and now? When my master comes for me, how will I answer?

Poetic Reflection:

How does this poem by Thomas Centollela, a former Stanford Stegner Fellow, capture the urgency of this parable’s message?

“Big Rec”

A few hours spent in the dry rooms of the dying
Then the walk home, the sudden rain
Comes hard, and you want it coming hard,
You want it hitting you in the forehead
Like anointment, blessing all the days
That otherwise would be dismissed
As business as usual. Now you’re ready
To lean upon the rail above the empty diamonds
Where, in the summer, the ballplayers wait patiently
For one true moment more alive than all the rest.
Now you’re ready for the ancient religion of dogs,
That unleashed romp through the wildness, responding
To no one’s liturgy but the field’s and the rain’s.
You’ve come this far, but you need to live further in.
You need to slip into the blind man awhile,
Tap along with his cane past the market stalls
And take in, as if they were abandoned,
The little blue crabs which in an hour will be eaten.
You have to become large enough to accommodate
All the small lives that otherwise would be forgotten.
You have to raise yourself to the power of ten.
Love more, require less, love without regard
For form. You have to live further in.

–Thomas Centollela, from Lights and Mysteries

Closing Prayer

From Ray Stedman, a well-known 20th century Christian preacher:

Lord Jesus, have I ventured anything for you? Have I risked my life for your sake? Or have I but transferred my ambition from the world of business or sport to the world of religion, still busy seeking self-aggrandizement, self-exaltation? Lord, teach me to risk, to abandon, to cast away what would minister only to myself and mine. For your name’s sake. Amen.