Nov. 15 — Mt 25:14-30
The “man going on a journey” in today’s parable entrusts his possessions to three of his servants while he is gone. We are told that he gives five talents to the first, two talents to the second, and one talent to the third: “to each according to his ability.”
God entrusts us all with different gifts, to each according to his ability. We don’t have to worry about what other people are entrusted with. We don’t need to compare ourselves to other people or to be overly concerned about what results we are achieving. All we need to do is use the gifts we have been given, to give of ourselves fully.
When we meet the Lord in the end, we will have to acknowledge that his justice is perfect. He knows us and loves us intimately. He made us. He knows exactly what he has given us, and so he knows exactly what he should expect from us. God is totally free from the need to compare us with each other. His justice is perfectly “fitted” to each one of us.
This demolishes any excuses we might have for why we cannot be saints. You cannot say, “But I don’t have the gifts that this other person has.” God is not asking you to use other people’s gifts, but only to use the gifts he has given to you.
You might read the life of a canonized saint, for example, and say, “I could never do that.” That is alright. God is not calling you to be exactly the same as that other person. But he is calling you to be a saint. He will not judge you based on how well you match up to or reproduce what some other person has done. But he will judge you based on what he has given you, because he made you, he knows you, and he loves you. He is calling you to great things.
An honest look at this Gospel makes us realize that the possibility of becoming saints is there for all of us. And not it is just a possibility of becoming saints, but it is God’s will for us that we become saints. It is always in our reach. We have no excuse not to give God everything we’ve got and strive for sainthood.
For each of the servants who did well, no matter what they were given initially, whether five or two talents, the response is the same, word-for-word: “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.”
Nor does it matter how much they produced, whether five talents or two talents. It matters that they used all of what the Lord gave them. And they receive the exact same response, “Come, enter into the joy of the Lord.”
What kept the third servant from hearing the same response as the first two? Fear. The master trusted him with a large amount. Even one talent is a small treasure, really — about the equivalent of 15 to 20 years’ worth of wages. The master knew that this servant had what it took to invest that talent wisely and make a profit (recall, the master gave to each “according to his ability”), and he entrusted the talent to him. But that servant did not trust that the master knew what he was doing.
We may similarly fail to carry out the mission God has entrusted to us if we do not trust that God has given us and will give us exactly what we need to carry it out. We may not bear the fruit we expect, but this is alright. Our expectations about what success must look like may be wrong. They often are.
We do not need to produce the same fruit that someone else, entrusted with other gifts and graces, may produce. But if we are faithful to God, we will bear exactly the fruit God desires of us. We can trust him, that he has given us exactly what we need, and he has chosen us.
Fr. Oetjen works in the diocesan tribunal with residence at St. Agnes Church in Arlington.
To each according to his ability
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Nov. 15 — Mt 25:14-30
The “man going on a journey” in today’s parable entrusts his possessions to three of his servants while he is gone. We are told that he gives five talents to the first, two talents to the second, and one talent to the third: “to each according to his ability.”
God entrusts us all with different gifts, to each according to his ability. We don’t have to worry about what other people are entrusted with. We don’t need to compare ourselves to other people or to be overly concerned about what results we are achieving. All we need to do is use the gifts we have been given, to give of ourselves fully.
When we meet the Lord in the end, we will have to acknowledge that his justice is perfect. He knows us and loves us intimately. He made us. He knows exactly what he has given us, and so he knows exactly what he should expect from us. God is totally free from the need to compare us with each other. His justice is perfectly “fitted” to each one of us.
This demolishes any excuses we might have for why we cannot be saints. You cannot say, “But I don’t have the gifts that this other person has.” God is not asking you to use other people’s gifts, but only to use the gifts he has given to you.
You might read the life of a canonized saint, for example, and say, “I could never do that.” That is alright. God is not calling you to be exactly the same as that other person. But he is calling you to be a saint. He will not judge you based on how well you match up to or reproduce what some other person has done. But he will judge you based on what he has given you, because he made you, he knows you, and he loves you. He is calling you to great things.
An honest look at this Gospel makes us realize that the possibility of becoming saints is there for all of us. And not it is just a possibility of becoming saints, but it is God’s will for us that we become saints. It is always in our reach. We have no excuse not to give God everything we’ve got and strive for sainthood.
For each of the servants who did well, no matter what they were given initially, whether five or two talents, the response is the same, word-for-word: “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.”
Nor does it matter how much they produced, whether five talents or two talents. It matters that they used all of what the Lord gave them. And they receive the exact same response, “Come, enter into the joy of the Lord.”
What kept the third servant from hearing the same response as the first two? Fear. The master trusted him with a large amount. Even one talent is a small treasure, really — about the equivalent of 15 to 20 years’ worth of wages. The master knew that this servant had what it took to invest that talent wisely and make a profit (recall, the master gave to each “according to his ability”), and he entrusted the talent to him. But that servant did not trust that the master knew what he was doing.
We may similarly fail to carry out the mission God has entrusted to us if we do not trust that God has given us and will give us exactly what we need to carry it out. We may not bear the fruit we expect, but this is alright. Our expectations about what success must look like may be wrong. They often are.
We do not need to produce the same fruit that someone else, entrusted with other gifts and graces, may produce. But if we are faithful to God, we will bear exactly the fruit God desires of us. We can trust him, that he has given us exactly what we need, and he has chosen us.
Fr. Oetjen works in the diocesan tribunal with residence at St. Agnes Church in Arlington.
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