THE WORD
1 Cor 1,26-31 / Mt 25,14-30
Jesus told his disciples this parable, “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.’”
IN OTHER WORDS
There are some hard facts from our daily experiences that cannot be disputed and can even sound ironic, like, having too much of what is good is no longer good. Or, that no one among the richest people in the world has ever affirmed that he/she has enough. Today in the gospel, the Lord states that those who have because they are so diligent, more will be given to them, while those who have none, even what they have will be taken away from them.
A lazy person can be coherent in his reasoning but in the end he runs out of arguments, while the proofs he used to escape responsibilities are the very reasons for his condemnation. In the gospel he is the person who is full of fear of his master. He could use this fear to do better, rather it has made him resentful, as seen in his judgment of his master as demanding and unjust in harvesting what he did not plant and gathering where he did not scatter.
St. Monica, whose feast we celebrate today, showed us what persevering prayer and a deeper motivation could do. For 30 years she prayed for the conversion of her son to the Lord. She succeeded in helping his son Augustine become a great saint, and in the process also converted her husband Patricius t who got baptized before dying. She was given more after she nally got what she prayed for in thirty years.
- Fr. Carlos Lariosa, SVD | Radio Veritas Asia, QC
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
