457. Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)

Meditations no. 403 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Making the talents God has given us yield fruit.

The kingdom of heaven is like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. Once again Jesus explains in parables the meaning of our life on earth. God grants each of us gifts, “talents” that he expects us to invest, in order to attain heaven by our efforts and his never-failing grace.

The man in the parable gives each servant a portion of his property to administer in his absence: to one servant he entrusts five talents, to another two, and to a third, only one.

The one who receives five talents responsibly and loyally draws up a plan to gain a return on the money entrusted to him. He weighs and ponders the matter, and then he acts. He doesn’t give in to activism, nor does he fall prey to a passive inertia. And his efforts are not in vain. The servant with five talents doubles his wealth. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more.

In contrast, our Father writes, you’ve seen what the one who received one talent does: in some places it would be called “skiving”, or dodging one’s duties. His petty mind thinks and wonders, and he says: my master is a hard man, who reaps where he hasn’t sown and gathers where he hasn’t winnowed… And he went off and made a hole in the ground, and there hid his master’s money.

What kind of work can our man undertake henceforth, now that he has given up the very tools of his trade? He has opted irresponsibly for the easy way out. He will simply give back what he has received. From now on he will just kill time, minutes, hours, days, months, years, his whole life! The others meanwhile are busy trading. They are noble fellows and keen to give back more than they have received, for the master has a right to expect a profit. The instructions had been very clear: negotiamini dum venio (trade with these till I come); look after the business and make it yield a profit, until the owner returns. Not so our man, and thus his whole life becomes useless.

What a shame it would be to have as one’s occupation in life that of killing time, which is a God-given treasure! No excuse could justify such behaviour. “Let no one say, I only have one talent, I can’t do anything. Even with just one talent you can act in a meritorious way.” How sad not to turn to good account and obtain a real profit from the few or many talents that God has given to each man so that he may dedicate himself to the task of serving other souls and the whole of society!

This is a good moment to ask ourselves in God’s presence if we are taking advantage of our time and talents to yield abundant fruit in God’s service. Our Father continued: God may have given us just one more year in which to serve him. Don’t think of five, or even two. Just concentrate on this one year, that has just started. Give it to God, don’t bury it! This is the resolution we ought to make.

Laziness is the primary enemy in our struggle.

The servant who received one talent must have tried to justify his own inactivity. He probably intended to follow the example of the other two at some point in the future, and may even have considered going to the market to trade with his talent. But he allowed himself to be overcome by the possible difficulties involved.

Obstacles? our Father asked. Sometimes they may be present, but at times you just invent them out of cowardice or love of comfort. How cleverly the devil makes those excuses for inactivity look plausible! He knows full well that sloth is the mother of all vices.

We too experience the temptation to be passive, to give in to laziness. Instead of trying to do more, resolving objective problems as they come up, we may allow ourselves to be paralyzed by excuses that magnify obstacles: an adverse environment, lack of means, thinking it’s not the right time. If that happens, it’s the moment to recall our Father’s clear advice: Fight against the tendency to be too lenient with yourselves. Everyone has this difficulty. Be demanding on yourselves! Sometimes we worry too much about our health or about getting enough rest. Certainly it is necessary to rest, because we have to tackle our work each day with renewed vigour. But, as I wrote many years ago, “to rest is not to do nothing. It is to turn our attention to other activities that require less effort.”

At other times, relying on flimsy excuses, we become too easy-going and forget about the marvellous responsibility that rests on our shoulders. We are content with doing just enough to get by. We let ourselves get carried away by false rationalizations and waste our time, whereas Satan and his allies never take a holiday. Listen carefully to St Paul and reflect on what he said to those Christians who were slaves. He urged them to obey their masters, not serving to the eye as pleasers of men, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart, giving your service with good will as to the Lord and not to men. What good advice for you and me to follow!…

Since we should behave at all times as God’s envoys, we must be very much aware that we are not serving him loyally, if we leave a job unfinished; if we don’t put as much effort and self-sacrifice as others do into the fulfilment of professional commitments; if we can be called careless, unreliable, frivolous, disorganized, lazy or useless… Because people who neglect obligations that seem less important will hardly succeed in other obligations that pertain to the spiritual life and are undoubtedly harder to fulfil.

And so, considering the responsibility that rests upon our shoulders, our Father tells us: Renew your decision each morning, with a very determined Serviam! I will serve you, Lord! Renew your resolution not to give in, not to give way to laziness or idleness; to face up to your duties with greater hope and more optimism, convinced that if we are defeated in some small skirmish we can overcome this setback by making a sincere act of love.

The Lord will ask us for an account of the talents we have been given.

The two diligent servants spent their days working conscientiously for their master. But the idler lets his empty days slip by to no avail. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

“Master, you delivered to me Jive talents; here I have made five talents more.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.” The one who received two talents and earned two more also received his master’s praise and a reward for his loyalty.

We can imagine that the idle man contemplated the scene with a certain apprehension. He had often put out of his mind the moment he would have to answer for his stewardship. Now, at the final hour, he has no defence for his idleness. But he does offer an excuse: Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours. However, his words are incapable of justifying his laziness. The owner’s response is clear and unyielding: You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed. Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents.

My son, our Father concludes, let this be the fruit of your prayer today: be convinced that your time is for God; that it’s a God-given treasure; that it is something divine; that, in your hands, it is something marvellous that you have to administer for God, with a sense of responsibility… .

We finish our prayer by turning to our Mother in heaven. Mother of ours, you saw Jesus grow, you saw him make good use of time: teach me to make use of my time to serve the Church and all souls.