Happy Sunday!
DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Proverb 31,10-13.19-20.30-31; 1 Thessalonians 5,1-6; Matthew 25, 14-30: 33 Sunday of the Year, 15th November 2020)
On this penultimate Sunday of the liturgical year, the Church prepares us for the coming of the Lord. The second reading speaks of it, explicitly, and the Gospel implicitly.
In the second reading, Paul proposes to the Thessalonians the teaching that comes from Jesus: no one knows when the day of the Lord will come; it will come like a thief in the night. The apostles had asked Jesus when his day would come, and he had replied by not indicating a fixed date, but saying that one must always be ready (cf. Matt 24ff ). And Paul says: When it is said: Peace and security, then suddenly ruin will come. The Apostle then encourages the Thessalonians, stating that they are not in darkness. Even if the night comes, Christians are not in darkness and cannot be surprised by the day of the Lord that will come like a thief that comes in darkness, because they are children of the light and children of the day. As children of the light, they don't sleep like others, but always stay awake and sober. In the Second Letter to the Thessalonians, Paul advises them to work; he invites them to be neither idle nor busy without, actually, achieving anything, but to work with commitment. In this way they will be ready for the Lord’s coming (cf. 2 Thessalonians 3,6-13).
Today's Gospel also speaks of the return of the master, and, therefore, implicitly on the day of the Lord. Jesus tells the parable of the talents. A man goes on a journey and gives the servants talents. A talent in antiquity represented a huge sum of money. The master gives to one five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability, and he leaves. The servant who has received five talents does not remain inert, idle, but gets busy and tries to employ them; so he earns another five. And, likewise, the servant who has received two earns two more. However, the servant who has received one, goes to make a hole in the ground and hides his master's money. In contrast to the attitude of the latter servant, the first reading shows us an exemplary, very active woman. In the book of Proverbs there is a magnificent eulogy of a perfect wife, who gives her husband happiness and not displeasure for all the days of his life. She procures wool and linen and willingly works with her hands. He spreads his hands to the distaff and turns the spindle with his fingers. This woman is also generous: she does not work only for her own interests, but opens her hands to the poor. She is, therefore, a model for us. The author observes that external beauty is fallacious and vain: Inner beauty is what counts. The woman who fears God, and who is deeply Godly in her life, is of great value. External beauty is not a true value, but ephemeral. It gives a passing satisfaction, but is not possible to base one's life on it. The servant who has received only one talent does not go to employ the talent, but hides it; why? He explains it at the return of the master: Lord, I know that you are a hard man, that you reap where you have not sown and you reap where you have not scattered; for fear I went to hide your talent in the ground. This servant lacked trust in his master, he had a very negative idea of him. Fear paralyses. To take initiatives and move forward, you need to have confidence. Those who live in fear neither dare to take initiatives, seek refuge nor security, and thus achieve nothing.
In the words of the third servant, he has a negative idea of the master and the fear that derives from it. This fear makes the servant take the wrong solution: to hide the talent, in order to be able to find it and return it to the master. The master, however, did not give his talents to the servants to be preserved, but to be used profitably. Therefore, the third servant is called a wicked and slothful servant. The master shows him that his conduct is inconsistent. The servant says: I know that you are a hard man, who reap where you have not sown and reap where you have not scattered, and the master points out: So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered? Well, then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have recovered my capital with interest. This is the least the servant could have done. This parable gives us important lessons. First of all it makes us understand that we must have a beautiful, and positive idea of God. We must not think of him as a bad boss, a hard and severe person, who only tries to catch the wrongdoers in order to punish them. If we have a bad idea of God, then our life will not be fruitful: we will live in fear and this will not inspire in us any positive thing. We must examine ourselves to see what our idea of God is. He manifested himself, especially in the Gospel, but already in the Old Testament, as a God full of generosity, mercy and a father. And Jesus insisted on showing us that God is not a severe master, but a father full of love and generosity. So we need to have tremendous confidence in him. Undoubtedly, as a father, God has needs towards us, but it is a question of needs of love. Usually a father has ambitious plans for his children, he does not want their lives be empty existence, which does not accomplish any valid thing. On the contrary, he has the ambition that his children live a beautiful life, that reveal that they are truly gifted and worthy people. Again, God has an ambitious project for us, he has strong demands on us. But these are needs that come from love and must not inspire fear, but rather trust, because God is always ready to help us. He is not a terrible judge, who tries to discover the fault of people, but a father, always ready to welcome his son, even when he made a mistake, and give him another chance of a beautiful and generous life truly worthy of man and God. We must welcome this message from Jesus about the Father. He manifests the Father's generosity to us in every way: with his word, actions, welcoming attitude towards everyone, especially sinners, and also his warnings, which show his interest so that we do not waste our lives. We must have a correct perspective of God, and above all a deep love for the Father, in union with Jesus, his Son, who has always shown a very great love for the Father and absolute trust in him. At the same time we must be aware of our responsibilities. They should not be burdens for us, but stimulus. It is a sign that God has great esteem for us; therefore, he entrusts us with important things. Above all, parents have great responsibilities: God entrusts their children to them, who are an inestimable treasure. This task must not be a cause for sadness for them, but for pride. Parents are usually proud of their children, and do everything they can to make their lives turn out well. But all the other responsibilities of life must also be accepted as a gift of God's love, who always prepares new gifts. God wants to help us in every way so that the talents he has entrusted to us are truly used well and bear wonderful fruits. Thus, we can move forward in our lives with the right perspective of God, with sincere love of our Father who is in heaven, and the desire to always do something better with his help, for his glory. +John I. Okoye
(graphics by Chukwubike OC)
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