Word to the Wise
Saturday, September 1, 2018 - Saturday in the 21th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Cor 1:26-31 and Matt 25:14-30]SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2018. SATURDAY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME [1 Corinthians 1:26-31 and Matthew 25:14-30] “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.” [Matthew] After the faithful manager and the wise virgins comes the parable of the talents. The translation offers an interesting way of understanding the parable. The word, “talent,” meant originally an amount of money according to a certain weight. In English, now, it usually means certain abilities - e.g. talented musician or actor. We use the word “gifted” in the same way. In all three parables, failure to act wisely and prudently with the resources we have been given can have dire consequences. The parable of the talents suggests initiative and courage in doing this and not just a passive waiting for the day of reckoning. How does one measure “success” in this case? The meaning of the parable is not economic, even if the image is monetary. Much depends on the attitude of the person who desires to do what he or she can do for God and neighbor. This is the “return” by which we will be judged. The very next parable - the Final Judgment scene (which unfortunately gets booted for lectionary reasons this year) - gives us a list of neighbors crying out to us. These are the living opportunities for those talents we have received. I recommend reading this parable to get the whole picture - Matt. 25:31-45, since next week the lectionary switches to Luke for the daily gospel scripture. We all want to hear those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant...come, share your master’s joy.” What evidence can we give? AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
94 ms
4
