Gospel: 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.’”
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Reflection:
A talented inventor died
a few years ago; he was praised by the world for his contribution to the advancement
of cutting edge smart phone technology. He used his talent to the fullest
extent until he died to feed the technology cravings of this world.
We all have talent/s
that God has given us. However, we oftentimes selfishly use this talent to
advance our own agendas such as to increase our wealth and status in life.
There is nothing wrong with this kind of usage of our talents for we are
humans. As such our tendency is to grow and nurture this talent/s to feed our
human needs.
But Jesus gives us
another idea on how to use the talent/s that He gave us by way of the parable
of the talents in our gospel. He tells a parable of a master who went on a
journey but before proceeding he called his three servants and he entrusted
them his wealth. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one
after which he proceeded to his journey.
After a period of
time the master came home and he called the three servants so that he could be
updated on what they’ve done with the talent/s that he entrusted them. We all
know what happened; the first two were very enterprising for they were able to
multiply the talents entrusted to them.
But the servant who
was entrusted with one talent was not as enterprising as the two. Out of fear
for his master he instead buried the one talent that was entrusted to him.
Naturally the master was furious with this unproductive servant and we know
already what happened to this unproductive servant.
Let us not only use
our talents for this world alone. It’s
about time that we use our time, talents and treasures to plant the seeds of
the kingdom of God in this world. Let us not worry even if we won’t be getting
any worldly reward in return for God will take care of it someday. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
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