BIBLE STUDY #63
THIRTY THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
November 13, 2011

Reading 1
Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31

When one finds a worthy wife,
her value is far beyond pearls.
Her husband, entrusting his heart to her,
has an unfailing prize.
She brings him good, and not evil,
all the days of her life.
She obtains wool and flax
and works with loving hands.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her fingers ply the spindle.
She reaches out her hands to the poor,
and extends her arms to the needy.
Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting;
the woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her a reward for her labors,
and let her works praise her at the city gates.

The Word of the Lord

Reading 2
1 Thessalonians 5:1-6

Concerning times and seasons, brothers and sisters,
you have no need for anything to be written to you.
For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come
like a thief at night.
When people are saying, "Peace and security, "
then sudden disaster comes upon them,
like labor pains upon a pregnant woman,
and they will not escape.

But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness,
for that day to overtake you like a thief.
For all of you are children of the light
and children of the day.
We are not of the night or of darkness.
Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do,
but let us stay alert and sober.

The Word of the Lord

Gospel
Matthew 25:14-30

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"A man 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.'"

The Gospel of the Lord

Reflection

This is the third week in a row that we have heard a parable about the proper attitude and behavior we need to have while awaiting the second coming of Jesus Christ. We are told that we need to act responsibly; the emphasis is on positive action as opposed to being fearful, lazy, and inactive.

A man is leaving on a journey and he gives away ‘talents’; this was a very large sum of money. The first man got 5 talents, the second 2, and the third received one talent. It is hard to calculate the exact amount of a talent, but one commentator said it was equivalent to 15 years of wages. The point is not to have an exact sum, but to know that it was a very large sum. Each got according to his own ability, which is where talents became known as the gifts and abilities given to each one of us.

One thing to note is that our abilities and talents are gifts from God, something for which we should give thanks to God. We didn’t acquire these gifts ourselves; they were given to us when God created us.

Two of the men used their talents responsibly - the one with 5 talents invested it and earned 5 more talents, and the second man took his 2 talents and made 2 more. The third man, however, just buried his talent in the ground.

The master goes on a journey and has great trust in these three men. He is not there to supervise, correct, or lead. He leaves them on their own to use their talents as they see fit.

When the master returns, the first 2 men are rewarded: they are called good and faithful servants for using their talents to the best of their abilities. There are 2 things to note here: 1) the more talent you have, the more is expected of you. Therefore, do not be jealous of talented people – the bar is set higher for them; 2) the Lord doesn’t expect you to return more than you are capable of; he didn’t expect the man with 2 talents to return an additional 5, but he did expect him to return 2 talents. Conversely, the man with 5 talents was expected to return 5 – 2 would not be good enough.

The third man is called ‘wicked and lazy’ because he buried his talent. He didn’t use his talent according to the masters’ wishes. He was fearful of not being successful, which the master considers wicked and lazy. This man reminds me of the person who is a taker and not a giver. He is the one who doesn’t contribute to the build up of the community but desires all the benefits of the community. He is the one who doesn’t do anything bad, but he doesn’t do much good either.

The first 2 share their master’s joy. Using your talents for the betterment of the community is joyful. The master blesses us with his grace and peace. This is the basis for the statement “Virtue is its’ own reward.” The more we use our talents the more we are blessed by God. These people never have to wonder where God is, because they always feel his presence. Those who bury their talents are the ones (at least in my experience) who usually complain about the lack of God’s presence in their lives.

There is also an eschatological (end time) dimension in this passage. The return of the man on the journey reminds of Jesus return at the end of time. We will be judged on how we used the gifts and talents given to us by God, and will be rewarded or punished accordingly. We will see this theme next week when the gospel is Matthew 25:31-46.

The first reading from Proverbs is an example of someone using her gifts and talents. By her very nature she blesses those around her and reaches out to the poor and needy because she is a faithful person who has God in her life. Her value is far beyond pearls and those who know her fall in love with her. Have you known anyone like that? Don’t you like to be with them? Don’t they inspire you?

The second reading has a similar theme to the gospel: be prepared for the coming of the Lord, which will come like a thief in the night. We don’t know when, but we need to be prepared by living the Christian life, using our gifts and talents for the building up of the kingdom.

The following story is from one of my homily sources and is called “Fulfilling Your Calling”

An anonymous writer has said, "My small son and I were taking a walk. In the far corner of the field we found a small patch of beautiful and fragrant flowers. They were in the middle of weeds, almost completely hidden and unnoticed, yet these flowers were blooming in full beauty and we sensed their fresh fragrance. All of us have met persons unnoticed by many, but who in the middle of struggle and unlikely surroundings far from the center of attention live lives of beauty and fragrance. And living lives which seemed obscure they faithfully fulfilled God's calling for them. God's question on the last day will not be, 'How much were you noticed?' or even 'How much did you do?' Rather, his question will be, 'Were you faithful in fulfilling your calling where I placed you?' "

Peter J. Blackburn, Using What We Have

Here is another story from another homily source called ‘Connections’ that I like and want to share with you:

“Life in the garden

They had a lived a good life together, these 39 years. But it would soon send. The doctors said his esophageal cancer was inoperable - nine months, maybe a year. So what would he like to do with the time that's left?

"I'd like to have a garden."

"That would be nice," she said vaguely, surprised, since he had never shown the slightest interest in growing anything. Maybe a few tomato plants in a bucket on the deck, she assumed.

But she came home a few days later to find their yard filled with workers, boards, dirt and a Bobcat - and a 20-by-30-foot raised garden. He was sitting in a chair, watching, talking, laughing. He had told some friends what he wanted to do and they happily signed on to make it happen. He tried paying for the materials, but the guys wouldn't hear of it. She kept thanking them and telling them they were amazing. When they left, she turned to him and said, "Have we met? You don't garden. I don't garden. This thing is gigantic - what are we going to do with it?"

"I think it will bring people together," he said.

Soon he was too weak to sit by his garden - nine months was now optimistic, doctors said. Their friends, who didn't want to tire him or ask how he was doing, came and worked in the garden instead. They planted and hoed and watered and weeded.

He died a few weeks later, but his garden had already yielded strawberries and lettuce. The first fruits of his garden were shared at the luncheon after his funeral.

All summer the garden became the focus of everyone who knew and loved him. It produced more vegetables than anyone knew what to do with. People came to remember him, share stories and memories, cry together - and weed. The garden couldn't cure anything or heal the loss or loneliness, but it gave everyone something to do. His wish for his garden was realized: it brought people together.

He had said to his wife just before she died, "I don't want this to become a memorial garden after I'm gone. Just enjoy it. Have an eggplant on me."

[Adapted from "Life in the garden" by Joan Wickersham, The Boston Globe, September 23, 2011.]

In his ability to marshal friends and loved ones to plant a garden, a dying man creates a place of consolation and peace for those he will leave behind. A talent for bringing folks together enables another talent for planting to be realized; a desire to bring comfort to the dying results in a harvest that gives hope to the soul and sustenance to the body. In today's Gospel, Jesus challenges us to commit whatever talents, strengths and resources we have, to use whatever wealth we possess, to bring the hope and peace of the kingdom of God into our hurting and desperate world. Jesus teaches that our place in the reign of God will depend on our stewardship of those talents God has given us: whether we "bury" them in fear or selfishness or use them readily to reveal God in our midst.”

I know that many of you live these gospel values in your life already; I’ve seen countless examples in the time since the hurricane and flooding occurred. Keep up the good work, all you good and faithful servants.


Fr. Phil