“Called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them”
In the closing weeks of Ordinary Time, Jesus uses parables to tell us that we all have many talents, and will be judged according to our use of those talents. Jesus speaks of the end of times, whether that is when He returns, or when we die.
Many times we may think of the “things of the world” as cars, money, etc. Our talents are also things of the world. Ideas and time are worth money. Saint Augustine says in the Spiritual Reading, “They [talents] can be used and misused. He ought to use the world, not become its slave.” Can our talents, ideas, or time enslaved us? Very often we see teens become slaves to sports, school or other activities. Many adults become slaves to their ideas and work. It is important that we use our skills for the glory of God, but we cannot become slaves to these things. What does Saint Augustine mean by becoming a slave? Have activates, ideas, time we spend using our talents take us away from our obligation and necessity to prayer and worship? Do we miss Mass? Do we become so wrapped up in using our talents that we forget family and friends and find ourselves saying “no” to opportunities to grow in holiness?
What is a talent? A talent, as mentioned within the parable, “was a unit of coinage of high but varying value depending on its metal (gold, silver, copper) and its place of origin”. (Mat. 18:24 footnotes ) How much is a talent worth? One talent was the equivalent of about one thousand dollars. Imagine if someone entrusted someone else with a thousand dollars, two thousand, or even five thousand dollars: Knowing the master would want something done with it, what would you do?
ACTIVITY – What would you do with your grand?
You can use newspaper ads or even the internet if people have a smart phone. Have them look at the classified ads and think about what they would buy if they had $1,000; $2,000 or $5,000. Individuals can be broken up into groups and then groups can be given one of the amounts above. If you just found out you had the amount of money, what would you do with it? Would anything change if you knew that God gave you the money and would hold you accountable for every cent?
What do the talents signify? The talents are the gifts that God has bestowed upon us. There are three kinds of talents: “the gifts of nature; as for example a keen intellect, a ready wit, a good memory, science and skill, as also health, strength and beauty; the gifts of grace; which are inspiration and enlightenment, faith, hope, charity, and other virtues; finally, the gift of miracles; the apostolate and pastorship, the power of discerning spirits, the gift of prophecy, of healing, of tongues, etc.” [1]
In the area of nature, which of the following talents have we used for the Glory of God? Intellect, Wit (good humor), Memory, Science, Skill, Health, Strength, Beauty. How does the evil one, Satan attempt to destroy these talents?
In the area of grace, what is inspiration and enlightenment? Inspiration can come from the Holy Spirit, our guardian angels or even other people. This is encouragement to do what is good and pleasing to God. Enlightenment is when we come to a realization or understanding, we “get it”. God is a mystery and this mystery is always being revealed to us. Enlightenment is when we understand a little more of the mystery of God and even when we are able to share this understanding with others.
What are the virtues? Which virtues have we used for the Glory of God? The cardinal virtues, which are common to all humans, are prudence (knowing right and wrong); justice (giving others what they are rightly due); temperance (using correctly and in moderation, that which is pleasing to our senses) and fortitude (courage to do what is good in the midst of difficulties and even persecution). The theological virtues, which are common to those who are baptized, are faith, hope and charity. The theological virtues help us to love God; the cardinal virtues help us to love our neighbor.
Which of the gifts have I used for the glory of God? The apostolate and pastorship is the continuation of the work of Christ. Christ is prophet, priest and king. How well do we teach others about Christ and His Church? This teaching can be through example and words. We can offer sacrifice through our prayers and fasting and by uniting our prayers with the liturgy (Divine Liturgy which is the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours). When we help govern our life by living morally and we inspire others to live a moral life, we continue the kingly ministry of Christ. We are called to this apostolate and pastorship by our baptism. It is through our baptism that we are united to the Body of Christ, He is the head and we are the members.
What is the power of discerning spirits? There are good spirits (angels and the goodness found within the human spirit) and there are bad spirits (demons and the evil found with the human spirit). Discernment of spirits gives us a sense of when a person or situation is either good or bad. The gift of counsel, a gift of the Holy Spirit is part of this. In other words we could call this a spiritual “warning”. This is not just a warning when something or someone is evil but also helps us to bring out the good in others, if and when we sense a good spirit. This gift helps us give the necessary encouragement to others to do the good we see in them.
What is the gift of prophecy? Through our baptism we are all called to be prophets, to speak the Word of God. As we know, God is eternal and Jesus is the Eternal Word. Since God’s word is eternal, speaking the word of God can be prophetic in the sense that we are speaking of things to come in the future. Pope Paul VI spoke prophetically when he spoke of the dangers of misusing our sexuality. He predicted very accurately what would happen if we as a society accepted birth control. Many times we heard the Holy Father, priests and lay people speak in a “warning” tone. We also may speak in this way as if saying, “if you do this, this will happen.” We can only know this through the inspiration of the Eternal Word of God, which is Jesus Christ and is the Holy Spirit. This is not predicting the future or even fortune telling but rather sharing the Eternal Word of God.
What is the gift of healing? We have met plenty of people that have the gift of healing both the body and the soul. Surgeons, nurses, counselors, priests have a gift to heal the body and soul. The Saints in heaven as well as those on earth have asked for God’s healing of others through prayers, fasting and sacrifice alone, of tongues, etc. And what greater healing is there than to be absolved of one’s sins by a priest in the confessional. The important thing to realize about the gifts of miracles is that they are from God. The individual is just a vessel, an instrument. This is also the case of natural gifts and gifts of grace. All gifts are a sharing in the Divine Life, using the talents that God has given for His glory.
What is the gift of tongues? Speaking in tongues is the gift of speaking so as to be understood by all (as happened on Pentecost), and the corresponding ability of hearers to understand a person speaking in a foreign tongue. St. Paul describes a different gift of tongues in the early Church, namely talking in unintelligible speech, but he viewed it with suspicion when those who had the charism lacked the ability to explain what they were saying (1 Corinthians 14:1-40). [2]
Who is the man going into the country supposed to be? The man going into the far country is Jesus Christ, “who by His ascension into heaven has left earth, but will come again at the judgment.” [3]
How does God distribute these talents? God distributes His gifts in different ways, by His unlimited power as Lord of all. To one He gives much, to another less. If one receives much, he must not become faint-hearted, but work with that, which he has received, according to his ability, for the honor of God, the good of his neighbor, and the salvation of his own soul. God does not require more than this, but He certainly expects more from him who has received much, than from him who has received little. [4]
The main theme of the Spiderman franchise is “with great power comes great responsibility.” The Gospel reading reveals another way to say this: “to everyone who has, more will be given and he will be given...” (Mt. 25:29) We are given so much by God; if we do not take advantage of it, then we can fail our Lord.
Why does God give five talents to one servant, two talents for another, and only one talent to the last servant? God does not want to burden us with the same amount of responsibilities as everyone else. Those who have five talents have worked faithfully with the gifts that God has given them. They deserve equal praise and are equally rewarded for their fidelity by the householder. God does not judge the extent of the merits, but His merciful eye regards our good will, obedience, diligence, and the obstacles under which we labor.
How is giving someone five talents and another only one talent fair? God is fair in that He gives all of us exactly what we need. He also gives everyone an equal chance at salvation. We are all given the same task. In fact, it can be harder for the person with five talents because they are asked to do more with it. As we read in the Gospel, however, this is a “small matter” compared to what God has in store for us. Instead of worrying about whether someone has too many or too little talents, we should focus on our personal talents and how are we going to use them. If we feel there is someone, who does not have enough, we can use our talents to help them. On the other hand, if we feel that we have too few, trust in the Lord that He has given us exactly what we need for our salvation. If we serve Him well with what little we have, He will give us more.
Saint Therese asked the same question in regards to talents and her sister, Pauline, gave her the cup analogy. “One day I expressed surprise that God does not give an equal amount of glory to all the elect in Heaven—I was afraid that they would not all be quite happy. She sent me to fetch Papa’s big tumbler, and put it beside my tiny thimble, then, filling both with water, she asked me which seemed the fuller. I replied that one was as full as the other—it was impossible to pour more water into either of them, for they could not hold it. In this way Pauline made it clear to me that in Heaven the least of the Blessed does not envy the happiness of the greatest; and so, by bringing the highest mysteries down to the level of my understanding, she gave my soul the food it needed.” [5] Each of us is like a cup, some small, some large. We should not be so concerned about whether we are small are large. We should be concerned whether we are full. Are we using the gifts God has given to the full?
Who does the servant who buried the talent signify? Those who, whether in high or humble position, make no use of God’s gifts, and will, therefore, be deprived of them at the Last Day, and be cast into hell.
What is the master’s joy? Jesus tells us that He shares in our joy because we have gained salvation. When we are His faithful servants, we will find eternal joy with Him in heaven, the eternal banquet with Him.
Where does the third servant go? The third servant is cast into the darkness of Hell. The image of wailing and grinding of teeth is frequently used in Matthew’s gospel (cf. Mt. 8:11-12), and the message of Jesus is crystal clear; if we wish to enjoy the banquet feast with Him, we must be willing to use every talent that God gives us, or face the consequences.
What is the Master’s judgment a symbol of? Jesus condemns the servant with one talent not because he did not earn the same amount or more than the others, but He judged him personally and individually. When we die and go to our immediate judgment, Jesus will not judge us according to another person’s scale or how better or worse we were compared to others, but will judge us based upon how much we used the talents God bestowed upon us.
[1] The Church’s Year pg. 496
[2] Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.; Modern Catholic Dictionary; page 230
[3]The Church’s Year pg. 496
[4] The Church’s Year pg. 496
[5] Saint Therese the Little Flower; Story of a Soul; Chapter 2