33rd Sunday of Year A, 19th November 2023

What God asks of us in response to any granted trust is that we in turn become willing to trust him, and consequently to have more confidence in ourselves.”

Therefore, we humbly pray in this holy Mass, that we are enabled to make good use of the gifts which God has given us, placing our trust in his care for us, knowing that he will not fail us. Happy Sunday! 

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

Proverbs 31,10-13.19-20.30-31; Ps 127 (128); 1Thessolonians 5,1-6; Matthew 25,14-30; 33rd Sunday of Year A, 19th November 2023

The parable of the talents is responsible for a typical expression that has entered common parlance: "he has talent", "he is a talented person". We say this when we are impressed by someone's personal qualities. Thus the “talent”, which at the time of Jesus indicated a unit of measurement, applied above all to coins, thanks to the parable, has come to designate a complex of intellectual gifts; ability, skill, ingenuity. This transposition highlights a serious misunderstanding of the parable.

In fact, Matthew writes that the protagonist of the story distributes his goods in varying degrees, "according to each one's ability" (Matt 25,15). Talents, therefore, are not to be interpreted as the capability that God gives to every person. On the contrary, abilities/capabilities/gifts presuppose talents and determine precisely the different modalities in which they are assigned: to some five, to some two, to some one. It is better then to understand talents for what they are: the part of goods that this rich, indeed very rich gentleman, entrusts to his servants before setting out on a journey. These are enormous figures which, in their paradoxical size, want to highlight precisely the freedom and trust with which this gentleman entrusts his goods to his servants.

“Entrust” is a verb that contains in itself the same root of nouns such as “faith” and “trust”. This fellow trusts his servants, has complete trust/faith in them. The parable specifies that the entrustment takes place in varying degrees, according to the capabilities of each one. The master knows these abilities well and entrusts them with his goods. However, the reaction of the servants is different or rather, it is the third servant who distinguishes himself from the first two. They go "immediately" to invest the entrusted talents, so as to double the capital received. The master is late in returning, but this delay does not negatively affect the two servants, who indeed act promptly. Not so the third, who on the contrary "went to dig up the ground and hid his master's money" (Matt 25,18). The motivation for his behavior is shown as he himself explains before his master at the time of reporting: "Sir, I know you are a tough man ... I was afraid" (Matt 25,24-25). The problem is this: he has fear, nourished by the false image that he has created of his master, judged to be a hard man, demanding beyond what is right or due. In short, this servant lives in a wrong relationship with his master because of the false idea he has of him. It is on this aspect that the parable insists: the quality of the relationship we live with God then determines our way of acting, right or wrong.

Three aspects stand out in particular. The master in this parable trusts his servants. Furthermore, it is a question of "proportionate" trust: it is given according to each one's abilities. If, on the contrary, it had been "disproportionate", then it would have truly revealed the master as hard and demanding (thus giving reason to the perception of the third servant), who reaps where he has not sown, i.e., demands more than each one is capable of giving him. God trusts us, but he expects from us only what we can give, without expecting more. He knows us well, in the truth/reality of our possibilities and our limits.

Finally, this servant, not perceiving the trust that his master has in him, and not having himself trusting his master, to the point of fearing him, ends up losing even faith in himself. He buries his talent because he is afraid not only of his master, but of his orders; he can't trust himself. His problem is not simply his laziness; but is rather the indolence that arises from self-distrust, which in turn is generated by a false image of God.

But we haven't said everything yet. The most surprising trait of the master's face is revealed at the moment of reporting: he asks his servants to justify their actions, but does not ask back what he has entrusted to them, nor what each has earned. God is not a master who demands back his gifts. And the reward that he offers us does not consist in the talents with which he enriches us, but in making us sharers in his own joy. The joy of those who can rejoice (without regretting) to have placed such great trust in their servants. What God asks of us in response to any granted trust is that we in turn become willing to trust him, and consequently to have more confidence in ourselves. He knows our capabilities better than we know them; he therefore allows us to judge ourselves in the light of his own eyes. It is precisely the bright light of his trusting gaze that rests on us that makes us (as Paul writes to the Thessalonians) "children of light" (1 Thess 5,5), even if for the moment we remain in the darkness of night. We are children of the light who can watch over the coming of the new day with confidence, because we know that the master whose return we must await is not a harsh and demanding gentleman who comes to demand more than we can give him, but is a Father who, in the Only Son Jesus Christ, comes to share his joy with all his children. +John I. Okoye