33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr Dominic's Homily

Last week we had the bridesmaids who didn’t know when the bridegroom was going to arrive and today we have this parable of the servants who don’t know when the master will return from abroad and he has given each of them some talents while he is away.

A talent is in fact a weight. A Roman talent is about 35 kg we are not told if it is silver or gold but if it was of Gold then that’s getting on for towards £2 million in today’s money. So it’s a lot of money!

And of course it is where we get our word Talent from in relation to natural gifts that we each possess.

So we hear that the master gives five talents to one servant, two to another and one to a third, according to their ability. Now this is one of the twists in the parable that makes us realise there is a deeper meaning to this. Notice that the talents are not given equally.

We hear that the first two double their money for which they took great risk and are well praised. The master invites them to join in his eternal happiness – another twist indicating that this parable is all about how we can enter the kingdom of heaven.

A better translation than happiness is joy. In a world that is often plagued with anxiety, depression, sadness, worry fear and pain it’s good to think when was the last time we experienced true joy? Magnify this by 1000 times and this is what heaven will be like. A true sustained joy.

We hear that the third man is cautious and so buries his talent in the ground. He hands back the money having taken no risk. He even insults the master by indicating he is a thief by saying that he steals others crops.

He says that he reaps where he has not sown. That this master is somehow selfish even when he has just given him £2 million.

Obviously the master represents God and we are the servants. So in other words this person sees God in completely the wrong way. He doesn’t trust God. He is suspicious of him and fears him and so just returns to him what he has been given in the first place. His life when he dies.

This man’s vision is clouded because God is infinitely generous with what he gives us and everything we have comes from him.

So these Talents represent all that we receive from God. Our life breath, our being, our natural abilities and all our intellectual powers - they are all gifts. But they only grow to the extent that we give them away. It’s paradoxical.

We must make use of the gifts that we have received from God for the good of all. God wants us to be the best version of ourselves that we can and we do this by using our gifts and talents he has given us in the right way.

Remember that our life and being increase in measure that we give them away. It is said that we shouldn’t just ask what we can get out of this life – but rather what life can get out of us.

Now the first two servants were willing to risk giving away and so they doubled their wealth. To all who has - more is given.

The master’s response to the third servant sounds harsh! But he has been lazy. He has risked nothing.

This represents, if you like, our sins of omission. What we have failed to do when we had the opportunity. To the one who has not – even what he has will be taken away.

In other words if you try to cling on to your gifts you will lose them.

The fact that he has been cast out into darkness shows us that this has nothing to do with financial reward – it’s all about how we can enter heaven.

We all have something to offer in this life. We should discover what our own unique talents are. Take some time to think about your gifts. What are they? Are you making best use of them?

If we can manage to put these to the service of others and of God then our being will flourish.

We must not bury our talents by simply using them for ourselves. We must use them for the good of others.

So let us pray to the Holy Spirit that he may grant us the grace to both discover where our true talents lie and how we can use these for the benefit of all.