33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A - 16/11/2014 - Gospel: Mt 25: 14-30
Gifted person
There are people who are good at almost everything and we admire them for those gifted people. Most of us are good at something and we appreciate the gifts we have been given but some time gifts are hidden when we are young age and it is by accident latter in life that a person finds they have a hidden gift. A hidden gift often appears in the mind of a person but for some reasons the person received no encouragement to develop it until the opportunity presents itself.
According to today's Gospel it is God who entrusted gifts to each person; some with ten talents; others five and again others one talent. There is a differentiation of the distribution of the gifts but there is no requirement in return to equate the gifts given and its results. Whatever good results generate from the gifts the Master is appreciated. The only requirement from the Master is that we are responsible to develop the gifts that are given to us. The parable mentions nothing of the exploitation of the gifts but elsewhere the Bible forbids us to abuse of the gifts and those who disregard of the teaching are responsible for their bad acts. Gifts must be useful for that person and should be shared with others, not to waste them by burying them. The person who received one talent was judged harshly by the Master because he buried the gift and returned it with no added value.
I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered, so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground.
It is not the Master who was ungrateful to him but it was he who had unkind words towards the Master and the Master used his own words to judge him. This fellow servant appeared to have an unhappy life because he had lived in fear of the Master. Fear comes not from his own personal encounter with the Master but from what he had heard others say about the Master. The mistake he made was that he had no trust in the Master but instead he placed his trust in what his friends had said about the Master.
Jealousy with other people's talents means denying the differentiation of the distribution of gifts. We need to remember that gifts are given and what follows is the responsibility; more gifts the greater responsibility required. Our first responsibility is to develop the gift and make them grow. The second responsibility is to share the gifts with those who don't have any. In sharing the gifts we make the gifts useful for our own benefit as well as the common good of the rest of the world. Developing of the gifts and enjoying the benefits it brings bring joy to our life and it makes life useful and with purpose. The Master receives no benefits from our gifts but it is through us that others benefit and in turn this helps the Master fulfils his wish to care for others.
According to today's Gospel it is God who entrusted gifts to each person; some with ten talents; others five and again others one talent. There is a differentiation of the distribution of the gifts but there is no requirement in return to equate the gifts given and its results. Whatever good results generate from the gifts the Master is appreciated. The only requirement from the Master is that we are responsible to develop the gifts that are given to us. The parable mentions nothing of the exploitation of the gifts but elsewhere the Bible forbids us to abuse of the gifts and those who disregard of the teaching are responsible for their bad acts. Gifts must be useful for that person and should be shared with others, not to waste them by burying them. The person who received one talent was judged harshly by the Master because he buried the gift and returned it with no added value.
I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered, so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground.
It is not the Master who was ungrateful to him but it was he who had unkind words towards the Master and the Master used his own words to judge him. This fellow servant appeared to have an unhappy life because he had lived in fear of the Master. Fear comes not from his own personal encounter with the Master but from what he had heard others say about the Master. The mistake he made was that he had no trust in the Master but instead he placed his trust in what his friends had said about the Master.
Jealousy with other people's talents means denying the differentiation of the distribution of gifts. We need to remember that gifts are given and what follows is the responsibility; more gifts the greater responsibility required. Our first responsibility is to develop the gift and make them grow. The second responsibility is to share the gifts with those who don't have any. In sharing the gifts we make the gifts useful for our own benefit as well as the common good of the rest of the world. Developing of the gifts and enjoying the benefits it brings bring joy to our life and it makes life useful and with purpose. The Master receives no benefits from our gifts but it is through us that others benefit and in turn this helps the Master fulfils his wish to care for others.
Written by Fr Vũđình Tường
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia