Trading Talents

Listening to the Spirit

Prayer for the Missionaries
(Saint Guido Maria Conforti)

O Jesus,
you are the alpha and omega of our life,
who wanted love to be the distinctive mark of your disciples.

We commend to you our brothers and sisters
who proclaim your gospel
throughout the world.

Give them the grace of fortitude
in their hardships,
defend them from dangers,
and make them worthy
to endeavor and suffer
for the glory of your name.

Grant, through the intercession
of St. Francis Xavier,
that we, too may take part
in their sufferings and their merits,
so that we may enter with them
into your everlasting glory.

You who live and reign forever and ever.

Amen.

Listening to the Word

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.'”

Reflection

In today's parable, Jesus depicts the Father as a man going on a journey who entrusts his goods to his servants. He gave five talents to the first, two to the second, and one to the last, each according to his ability, says the gospel. A talent was equivalent to 26 Kilograms of silver. It was a precious good. Then, upon his return, the master praised the two servants who multiplied the talents and invited them to share his joy, while he was disappointed by the servant who concealed it and so was able to return only one talent, that was precisely what he received from the master.

We can learn many things from this parable. First of all, the talents do not belong to the servants. They receive them according to their ability. This applies to our experience. Each of us receives everything from God according to one's ability, which depends on His plan for each of us. If I am intelligent, this intelligence is a gift I receive from God. If I am compassionate, this characteristic is also put in my heart by God. If I am cheerful, this beautiful attitude is also a gift from God. If I am very good at work and business… yes, also this comes from Him. So, everything we are and have comes from God as a gift, so there is no room for boastfulness and arrogance. There is no "self-made man" but only children of a generous Father. Saint Paul says to the Corinthians, "What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” (1Co 4:7 NRS).

The second teaching of this parable is about the responsibility to trade talents. We are all rich because of the treasures that God entrusted to us. But at the same time, God expects us to multiply his talents so that they bear fruit for our good and the good of others. And we can trade the talents while we use them to love God and our neighbors. So, there is no reason to be envious of the characteristics of others or to claim to be good at nothing. Each one has his or her own treasures, and mine are more than enough to be happy. Anybody can love God and his brothers and sisters by making use of the talents he receives from God.

On the other hand, we cannot dig a hole to preserve this treasure for fear of losing it as the last servants. He was not concerned about how to love but only about how not to avoid mistakes so that the master would not be disappointed if he failed in the trading. He was afraid of losing his master's belongings. In short, he was afraid of the master himself, who, in his mind, was a despotic Lord, and so he chose passivity instead of creativity; he preferred concealing instead of love. How many times do we miss the chance to love because we are afraid of the image of God we have in mind, which is other than the image of a loving Father…! But in the house of this master, there is a place only for servants who love and make their talents multiply. The destiny of the last servant is terrible: "…throw this useless servant into the darkness outside…”

Finally, we can ask ourselves what the most valuable treasure that the Father entrusts to us is. For sure, it is his relationship with his own Son, Jesus. So, this parable tells us that the most precious talent we receive from our Father is Jesus himself. We need to "trade" him, in the sense of striving to make him known by everybody, so that the relationship with him, the most precious pearl we possess, can be shared with others. Sharing the “talent of Christ” is what we precisely call "mission." Therefore, let us not neglect mission in our life. We cannot dig a hole and bury Jesus as a personal possession unworthy to be shared. The Father entrusted to us the responsibility to share the communion with him with everybody, especially with our relatives, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances who do not know him and his love. We will do it by bearing witness to the gospel through our concrete love and good deeds. But we will also do it with our words whenever possible and opportune so as to explain who Jesus is in our experience as Christians. Saint Paul was aware of this responsibility up to the point of saying: "woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!” (1Co 9:16 NRS)