Saturday in the 21st Week of Ordinary Time, September 2, 2023

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 Parable of the Talents follows the Parable of the Ten Virgins in the Gospel of St. Matthew.  In it, the Lord builds on the theme of readiness for both his second coming and for the judgment we will face at the end of our lives on earth.  In the first parable, he used lit oil lamps to signify our persevering faith as well as our good works, the product of our faith.  Here, he uses money to signify these things with an emphasis on how we have passed on our faith through the converts we have assisted either in person or through prayer, children we have taught, or those whom we have influenced to become Christian or to become better Christians through our good example and encouragement.  (This would include spouses and other family members).

“A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.”  The Lord begins his parables so simply with everyday situations.  In this way he teaches us to examine even the ordinary circumstances of our lives which we take for granted to see that they are in accord with the life of charity to which we are called.

“To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one– to each according to his ability.”  The Lord teaches here that he makes no demands that a given person cannot carry out.  Just as “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2, 27), the work the Lord entrusts each person with is measured specifically for that person so that we can say that the work was created for the person and the person for the work.  Each individual is endowed with the particular talents and abilities necessary to carry out the work that the Lord gives him.  No one is given work that is unsuitable or impossible for that person to carry out.  At the same time, it is necessary for each person to perform his task and not to perform another’s, as though to pile up accomplishments or even to escape to some work that seems more attractive.

“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.”  These servants take their assigned work seriously because of their love for their master and their desire to please him.  And although it sounds as though they had success right away and without having to try hard, the contrary would be true, as those who first heard this parable would have understood.  They worked hard amid setbacks and losses until the very day the master returned.  “But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.”  This servant feels contempt for his master and will not be bothered with doing even the simple things he could do to make a profit.  And by burying the money in the ground allows for the real possibility of it being found by someone else so that it is lost altogether.  This is not mere laziness but contempt.  It is also contempt for himself because he knows that his failure to do his work will result in punishment.  We could also see this as despair owing to a lack of trust that his master has given him a task he cannot perform.

“After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them.”  The time seems long because it is uncertain.  This signifies both the length of our lives on earth and the time until the Lord comes again at the end of the world.  He settled accounts with them.  He does not assume that the servants have carried out their work.  He wants to see the results of each, and for each to see the results of the others.  This is a matter of justice, whereas the fair portioning of the work was an affair of mercy.  “Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.”  The first servant speaks simply, without adding in details about how much work this entailed.  He is not unduly proud of his effort.  He is only happy to make his master happy.  “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.”  We see from the master’s perspective that the five talents — the equivalent over over ten million dollars in today’s money — was “a small matter” in comparison with the “great responsibilities” he will give to the servant.  For completing the work tailored to our abilities, the Lord promises eternal rewards beyond our conception.

“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.”  The servant who contemptuously buried his master’s talent attempts to excuse himself by blaming the master for his own inaction, another sign of his contempt.  “You wicked, lazy servant!”  The master does not hesitate to judge the servant according to his failure.  The master gave this servant the chance to show his faithfulness and he chose to fail.  “Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten.”  The talent did not belong to the servant and now it is taken from him and added to the one who worked the hardest.  This reminds us that the task the Lord sets for us is itself a gift from him, allowing us to take a part in our salvation.

“And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”  At the end of the parable of the Ten Virgins the master told the foolish virgins that he did not know them and then he kept them lock outside in the darkness.  Here we see that those left on the darkness wail in their exterior suffering and grind their teeth at how they threw away their eternal happiness.  The darkness signifies the loss of the beatific vision as well as the chaos of hell.

So then let us whom Almighty God has favored, in his wonderful Providence, to grant some work to do for him, thereby participating in our own salvation, leap to our tasks and bring great profit to him which will also benefit ourselves.