The Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Dear brothers and sisters,
“A man going on a journey called
in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them” (Matthew 25:14). Who is
this man if not Jesus Christ, and who are these servants if not his disciples?
But what is this journey on which he sets out, and why does he not take us, his
disciples, with him? The journey on which he set out was his Ascension into
heaven where he sits now at the right hand of the Father.
This journey of the Redeemer is
one that he calls each of us to embark upon; he calls each one of us to follow
him, to go where he has gone before us. For this reason, he says, “Whoever
serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be” (John12:26). If we are found to be faithful in matters both small and large, “our
future is ‘to be with the Lord.’”[1]
The Lord Jesus has not so much left us or forgotten us by going to the Father,
as he has prepared the way for us. He now beckons us to go on his journey with
him, toward him.
Through the parable of the
talents which Jesus gives today, it is clear we will attain heaven – that we
will be with him – only if we use what he has entrusted to us wisely and well. “The
‘talent’ was an ancient Roman coin, of great value, and precisely because of
this parable's popularity it became synonymous with personal gifts, which
everyone is called to develop.”[2]
So often we think of these gifts
in terms of abilities or skills that we – or others – might have. There is, of
course, some truth in this, but this is not the extent of the gifts that have
been given us. The more important gifts are, sadly, the ones we do not always
think of:
his Word, deposited in the Holy
Gospel; Baptism, which renews us in the Holy Spirit; [the] prayer [of] the
"Our Father" that we raise to God as his children, united in the Son;
his forgiveness, which he commanded be offered to all; the Sacrament of his
Body sacrificed and his Blood poured out; in a word: the Kingdom of God, which
is God himself, present and alive in our midst.
These are the gifts the Lord expects us
to increase. Moreover,
This is the treasure that Jesus
entrusted to his friends at the end of his brief life on earth. Today's parable
stresses the inner disposition necessary to accept and develop this gift. Fear
is the wrong attitude: the servant who is afraid of his master and fears his
return hides the coin in the earth and it does not produce any fruit. This
happens, for example, to those who after receiving Baptism, Communion and
Confirmation subsequently bury these gifts beneath a blanket of prejudice,
beneath a false image of God that paralyzes faith and good works, thus
betraying the Lord's expectations. However, the parable places a greater
emphasis on the good fruits brought by the disciples who, happy with the gift
they received, did not keep it hidden with fear and jealousy but made it
profitable by sharing it and partaking in it.[3]
It is in sharing the gift of
faith that it grows within us. This is why an intentional discipleship of the
Lord Jesus is so important for each one of us. When he returns, what will we
say to the Lord? With what will we present him? Will we present him with, by
his grace, a faith increased, or with a faith stifled?
When will he come again? We do
not know. What we do know is this: “the day of the Lord will come like a thief
at night” (I Thessalonians 5:2). “Therefore,” Saint Paul exhorts us, “let us
not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober” (I Thessalonians5:6). “God did not destine us for wrath, but to gain salvation through our Lord
Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may
live together with him” (I Thessalonians 5:9-10).
What is more, the Apostle tells
us the day of the Lord will not catch us off guard because we are not in
darkness. Rather, we are “children of the light and children of the day” (IThessalonians 5:5). On the day of our Baptism we were each entrusted with this
light, with the light of Christ, “to be kept burning brightly” and to “keep the
flame of faith alive” in our hearts.[4] If
we have guarded the flame of faith and remained faithful, then on the day when
the Lord comes in his glory, we will “go out to meet him with all the saints in
the heavenly kingdom.”[5]
There will be no reason to fear.
Without Christ the future is dark
and bleak, because he himself is the Light, but we are not without Christ; we
are not in darkness but in his light, because he is with us! “The Christian
knows the light of Christ is stronger [than the powers of darkness] and because
of this, lives in the hope that is not vague, in a hope that gives certainty
and courage to face the future.”[6] We
wait, then, in joyful hope for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Waiting for the return of Christ
“does not dispense with the work of this world, but on the contrary, brings
responsibilities before the divine Judge regarding our way of acting in this
world.”[7] It
is precisely this recognition that we will have to render an account of our
lives before Christ the just and merciful Judge that gives life meaning,
purpose, and direction; the purpose of our lives is to give to the Bridegroom
“good, and not evil,” all the days of our lives. (Proverbs 31:12). As we reach
out our hands to the poor and extend our arms to the needy (cf. Proverbs31:20), we must remember these words of Jesus: “Amen, I say to you, whatever
you did to one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).
Pope Benedict famously said, “The
one who has hope lives differently!”[8]
The meaning, purpose and direction of human life are all found in Jesus Christ.
From him we learn that we are made by love and for love; from him, we receive
the command to lead all people to him; and it is toward him that every aspect
of our lives must be directed with nothing being secondary to him. If our lives
look like those of unbelievers, something is wrong. This is what it means to
live differently, to live only for Jesus Christ. Only in this way will we come
to know the true and lasting joy and peace of the kingdom of heaven.
What does the Lord say to those
servants who used wisely those talents he entrusted to them, who have developed
them and have something additional to return to him? “Well done, my good and
faithful servant… Come, share your master’s joy” (Matthew 25:21). If we want to
be filled with joy, if we do not want to be found to be “wicked, lazy
servant[s],” we must live according to the mind and heart of Christ, using what
he has given us freely and without concern for what it will cost (Matthew25:26). We must, as he says, give our lives away in order that we might find them.
The manner in which we live our
lives does matter, and heaven is not a guarantee for any of us. Are we then to
fear the Second Coming of Christ? Concerning the Lord’s return, Saint Augustine
said this:
He who is without
anxiety waits without fear until his Lord comes. For what sort of love of
Christ is it to fear his coming? Brothers, do we not have to blush for shame?
We love him, yet we fear his coming. Are we really certain that we love him? Or
do we love our sins more? Therefore let us hate our sins and love him who will
exact punishment for them. He will come whether we wish it or not. Do not think
that because he is not coming just now, he will not come at all. He will come,
you know not when; and provided he finds you prepared, your ignorance of the
time of his coming will not be held against you.[9]
If we live for Christ and for
others, if we live as true servants of Jesus Christ, if we live with a genuine
love of God and of neighbor, we will have nothing to fear when he comes.
No, we are not afraid of death or
of the end of the world because we know that Christ Jesus is risen from the
dead. We know that he is with the Father and that he is also with us always in
the Church, in the Sacred Scriptures, and especially in the Eucharist.
Regardless of how powerful the forces of darkness may be, “no one is stronger
than Christ, because he is with the Father… Because of this, we are secure and
free of fear.”[10] Death
holds no more power over us, for we, too, will rise again and look upon his
face.
“If [we] wish to receive mercy,”
Saint Augustine tells us, “be merciful before he comes; forgive whatever has
been done against you; give of your abundance… These are the sacrifices most
pleasing to God: mercy, humility, praise, peace, charity. Such as these, then,
let us bring and, free from fear, we shall await the coming of the judge who
will judge the world in equity and the peoples in his truth.”[11]
Amen.
[1] Pope
Benedict XVI, Audience Address, 12 November 2008.
[2] Pope
Benedict XVI, Angelus Address, 16
November 2008.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Rite
of Baptism for One Child, 100.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Pope
Benedict XVI, Audience Address, 12 November 2008.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.,
Spe salvi, 2.
[9] Saint
Augustine of Hippo, Discourse on the
Psalms, 95.14.
[10] Pope Benedict XVI, Audience Address,
12 November 2008.
[11] Saint
Augustine of Hippo, Discourse on the
Psalms, 95.15.
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