33rd Sunday of Year A, November 19, 2017

May you in this Sunday Eucharistic celebration, be filled with God's graces that will enable you discover, develop and make fruitful the talents God has adorned you with. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Proverbs 31, 10-13. 19-20. 30-31; 1 Thess. 5, 1-6; Matt 14-15. 19-21: 33rd Sunday of Year A, November 19, 2017)

In the parable of the ten virgins the previous Sunday, we were instructed to be prepared as we wait for the return of the Lord. In today's liturgy, the theme of the return of the Lord comes up again. In this Sunday, we are encouraged to be prepared while waiting for Lord by making the talents God has given us fruitful through industry and hard work.  The parable narrative speaks of a man who, before he set out on a journey, entrusted some talents to his servants. He gave five talents to one, two to the other and one to the third, according to their capabilities. When the man finally returned from his journey, he settled account with his servants. The first two showed that during his absence they have been very industrious, doubling the amount entrusted to them. On the other hand, the servant who received one talent, made a hole on the ground and hid the talent of the master tried to justify his lack of industry by stating that he was intimidated by the demanding character of the master. In response to this attempt of self-justification, the master turns the excuse against the unproductive servant. He told him that the realisation of the character of the master should have spurred him on to do something with the money, at least depositing it with bankers to attract some interest. This parable throws light on the meaning of preparedness in waiting for the Lord's coming. It is not a disposition of passive waiting or non engagement because of fear of possible error. Rather, the preparedness rewarded here stems from the realisation that one is a steward of the goods of another, and knowing the disposition of that other, one seeks to maximise the potential of the goods.

As human beings, especially Christians and more especially as Catholics, we have been entrusted with talents, talents that really belong to God. These talents given to us include natural gifts like life, intelligence, wealth, good health, various capabilities and supernatural gifts like faith, hope, love, graces etc. The time of waiting is a period of opportunity, of active engagement, and creative growth. As we wait for the Lord's return, we are required to use these talents to the best of our abilities. We are required to invest ourselves in the here and now. It makes no difference what our talents may be or how many talents we have.  They have been entrusted to us as the possession of the master are entrusted to his servants. The ideal Wisdom figure, the woman of valour, of the first reading is an example of industriousness. She has a broad scope of interests and responsibilities, and faithfully pursues every one of them. She exemplifies the virtues needed in a self-sufficient household, particularly industry, versatility, trustworthiness, constancy, generosity and general goodness. Her worth is not principally in her productivity but in the fact that the fear of Lord governs her life. As we know, it is the fear of the Lord that is the basis of wisdom (Prov 1,7). It is correct to say that the woman is the model not primarily of the good wife but of the wise person. She is virtuous and successful because she possesses the wisdom that flows from the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord that drives her life is not servile; it enriches her, leads her to Wisdom, unlike the fear that seemed to immobilise the third servant in the gospel narrative. It is her commitment to God that results in her resourcefulness.

Apart from the lesson of watching actively for the Lord's return by a life of industry, the parable of today's gospel reading also teaches that we should have good and positive idea or image of God. In the parable, the master who entrusted the talents to the servants represents God of whom the third servant had wrong image. We should not follow the third servant to think that God is a bad master, or someone hard and sever who seeks to have people land in trouble in order to punish them. If we have a wrong image of God, our life will not be fruitful as we would be living in fear and would not be able to achieve anything positive. We need to examine the image of God we have. God manifests himself, especially in the Gospel, and even earlier in the Old Testament, as a God of generosity, rich in mercy and a loving Father. Christ insists in demonstrating that God is not a severe master, but a loving and benevolent Father. That is why we should place an extraordinary confidence in him. There is no doubt that as a father he has some demanding expectations from us. A father would normally have bold and ambitious plans for the children as he would not want their lives to be wasted and unsuccessful. Likewise God has ambitious plans for us. He expects much from us and he is ready to help us realise them. He is not a terrible judge who looks out for faults to punish but a loving father who is always ready to welcome the children even when they have made mistakes and is ready to give another opportunity for the children to sail through. Therefore, we need to have the correct image of God and also a profound love for the Father. We should do so in union with Jesus, his Son who manifested great love for the Father and who reposed great confidence in him.

The liturgy of today speaks of the invitation to be vigilant which the parable of today's gospel somehow reminds us of. The Lord will come for the rendering of accounts. We do not know the time, but he will surely come and he may come unannounced. Paul says in today's second reading: "As you know very well, the day of the Lord, could come like a thief in the night". The day of the Lord will not come to us unprepared if we have been wise and have industriously employed the Lord's talent that were entrusted to us. What is more, we shall all be richly rewarded, if we did so. But if we have not realised the potential that is possessed by our talents, and if we have not employed them in the way they were intended to be employed, we will be punished. If the later is the situation, if we have not faithfully engaged the talents, we will not be able to blame the Lord for the suffering we have to endure. We would have brought the misfortune on ourselves. The foolish man in the gospel knew that the master was exacting. He had some idea of what to expect. He made his choice and he had to accept the consequences of that choice. May we therefore in the Eucharistic celebration of this Sunday ask from God the graces to discover the talents he has bestowed on us and the special graces to make them fruitful. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

(graphics  by chukwubike)