Saturday in the 21st Week of Ordinary Time, August 27, 2022

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 Lord God gives us all the same law, the same commandments.  We are all to obey the commandments that we shall commit no murder or adultery.  If we obey the commandments of God out of love for him we will go to heaven after our life on earth.  Within the law, God calls us to various lives and works, and he fits us to them and them to us so that we may be able to accomplish them, for we are of all different levels of intellect and ability.  That is, he does not expect a person who struggles with simple math to become a physicist.  Before the beginning of time, in his most wonderful Providence, Almighty God designed us for some particular life and work, and those things for us.  Thus, in the parable, the master gave unto each servant certain amounts of money — “each according to his ability.”  The master does not give the man with the least ability five talents, but one.  And this is not only for the good of the servant, but for the accomplishment of the master’s aim.  In his case, it is to make money for himself.  The Lord gives us work that is fit for us, and that is good, but he does this also with an eye to his ultimate aim.  In the Lord’s case, the salvation of the human race.  By cooperating with God, we do well for ourselves, our fellow humans, and for God’s greater glory.

“Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.”  Likewise, the servant given two talents makes two more.  These servants double what their master had given them.  This fact shows that they fully put their intellects and abilities to their tasks.  It is no small thing to double an investment in any age of history.  And we see in the response of the master to each of them, that he is exceedingly pleased with them.  He does not say to the one who made five more talents, Why did you not make ten?  And he does not reproach the servant with two talents by asking why he did not make five like his fellow.  He is grateful for what they have done, and promotes them to levels of management on his estate.  The servant who did not try to make a profit with the talent given to him has shown contempt for his master by his inaction, and worsens his position by making as though the master demanded more from him than he could possibly give.  The master returns the contempt, and the useless servant is cast out into “the darkness outside”, which is to say, he abandons him to the darkness within him.  The master did not expect this servant to make five talents or two with the one he had given him, but some minimal profit, in keeping with what the man could have achieved, given his intellect and ability, but he would not employ them on his behalf.

When we read the lives of the saints, as we should, we should not be overwhelmed with their deeds and think to ourselves that if founding a religious order or living among a foreign people spreading the Gospel, or suffering martyrdom is required to get into heaven, we might as well give up now.  It is true that for some, this is God’s plan, and he equips the person to do these things.  Maybe we can say that this is the servant who is given the five talents: God has given him or her what is necessary for them to do the work he created them for.  Most of us, though, are on the two talent level, and are made for less spectacular, shall we say, kinds of work.  Whatever we discern that the Lord has given us to do, let us be industrious at it, confident that it is not too much, but is perfectly suited for us through his Providence.