Cycle A - Year II:

15 November 2020: Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

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

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6

Gospel: Please Read Matthew 25: 14-30 (or 25:14-15, 19-21)

"We must make God's kingdom grow!"

Believe it or not, every person has some kind of talent that maybe unique from the rest. Do you know what is your special talent? How do we make use of our God-given talent?

God has given each person a wide variety of gifts, and He expects us to employ these gifts in His service. We need to recognize that ultimately these gifts or talents are meant for growing the kingdom of God. And if they are not intentionally and prayerfully used, they will wither away.

The Word of God for this Sunday shares with us timely lesson on how to deal and make use of God-given talents in the Parable of the Talents. A little trivia at this point, the Parable of the Talents is found only in the Gospel of St. Matthew.

Now, Jesus used a story to encourage His followers to be ready at all times for His return. "Be on the alert," He said, " for you do not know which day the Lord is coming." (Mt 24:42)

The Parable of the Talents: The master goes on a journey one day, entrusting his servants with his wealth and possessions in his absence.

To one servant, the master gives five talents, to a second servant he gives two talents, and to a third servant he gives one talent. Now a "talent" in this instance refers to a unit of measurement, often used to weigh out silver or gold in Jesus' time.

We can assume that the master is entrusting his servants with a measure of his wealth proportionate to each of their abilities.

The parable goes on to say that two of the servants, the one given five talents and the one handed two, were good stewards of their master's money, investing it in such a way that when the master returned, they handed back double what the master originally gave them.

The third servant, however, was not as prudent. He went away and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

So when the master eventually returned, the servants who were faithful were praised and entrusted with more of the master's wealth. The servant who was fearful and negligent was swiftly reprimanded and thrown out of his master's presence.

The essence of the parable touches on the concept of responsibility and stewardship. The master expects his servants to be productive in the use of his money entrusted to their care.

So in our Christian living, today's parable provides us an opportunity to reflect how well we use our gifts and talents for the sake of the Lord and His kingdom here on earth. In concrete terms, for example, the parable challenges us to make good use of our time, treasure, and talents God has given us to make His kingdom grow on earth.

But the Gospel reading also gives us a warning. We are drawing near the end of another liturgical year, which should remind us that our time on earth is not unlimited. For any moment could be our last.

One day, when the Master returns, He'll want us to know what we've done with this precious life we've been given. Were we good stewards of what belongs to Him? Did we grow His investment?

Or did we just bury our time, talent and opportunity? It's up to us to decide, but we better decide quickly. The Master is planning His return and will be back at any moment.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!