The 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Just like last week, the Mass readings for today once again focus our attention on the end times and on being prepared to meet the Lord. In the second reading, Saint Paul reminds us that "the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." But he also wants us to remember that our faith has brought us out of darkness and into Christ's light.

But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness,
for that day to overtake you like a thief.
For all of you are children of the light
and children of the day.
We are not of the night or of darkness.
Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do,
but let us stay alert and sober.

Stay alert. Don't sleep. Be ready. Remain vigilant. Be aware that the end will come -- whether it will come first through your own death or through Christ's return in glory isn't for us to know. The important thing is to make sure that we don't allow our awareness of the need for preparation to become dulled.

The parable Jesus tells in today's Gospel is the famous parable of the talents. What is a talent in the context of this parable? It's important to note that it's not an ability, which is what the word means today. A talent was actually a monetary unit, in fact the largest denomination of Greek currency at the time. It was equal to approximately 10,000 denarii, and a denarius was equivalent to what a laborer would earn in one day. Thus, even the man entrusted with just one talent was given a very large amount, which illustrates God's great generosity with us.

There's a lot that can be said about this parable, but I want to point out one particular feature in Matthew's version of the parable which differs from a similar story in Luke. In this version, Matthew's account, the master divides the talents unequally -- he gives all three of the servants a different amount, as Matthew tells us, "each according to his ability." (In Luke, the coins are divided equally among the three.) I find that detail enormously consoling because it shows God's knowledge of us and the care He takes with us. We're entrusted with only as much as we're able to handle, which casts the third servant's actions in an even worse light. He was given a task that was perfectly suited to his abilities, so his failure to carry it out is all the more damning. We're all expected to exercise responsible stewardship over the things that God has entrusted to us.

The point of Jesus' parable is to show us the importance of being prepared for this final settling of accounts with our master. We need to make sure that we're working with the gifts God has entrusted to us -- the parable uses the image of trading and making money to convey this idea. Basically we're called to exercise the abilities, share the gifts, cooperate with the graces, and respond to the calls which God gives us. If we do that, God will multiply our efforts and use them to further the kingdom.

It strikes me that an important element in the story has to be the attitude which each servant has toward his master. The relationship each one had with him dictates in large part how each one responds to the responsibility entrusted to him. The parable tells us that the first two "immediately" went about trading their talents and doubling them, while the third one simply buried it in the ground. The first two were willing to take a risk with their talents, which indicates they were eager to make a return for their master, whom they respected and wanted to please. But the third servant was only concerned with himself. Although he later claims that his fear of his master was the reason for his actions, that rings kind of hollow. He doesn't act like someone who is afraid, since fear should have been a motivator for him to try harder. His master calls him wicked and lazy, and one could add "selfish" to that list as well.

The first reading we hear today might seem initially to be unconnected to the other ones, talking as it does about a worthy wife and her value.

When one finds a worthy wife,
her value is far beyond pearls.
Her husband, entrusting his heart to her,
has an unfailing prize.
She brings him good, and not evil,
all the days of her life.
She obtains wool and flax
and works with loving hands.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her fingers ply the spindle.
She reaches out her hands to the poor,
and extends her arms to the needy.
Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting;
the woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her a reward for her labors,
and let her works praise her at the city gates.

Aside from being a lovely passage, what does it have to do with the other readings that we hear today? I think it's actually very closely connected to the other readings. What is the woman praised for? She's praised for being hardworking, for being loving, for caring for the poor and needy, and for living in fear of the Lord. The woman in this passage is a good example of someone who is a "good and faithful servant" who puts her abilities and her life to use in the service of others and in the service of God. These attitudes, rather than charm or beauty, is what a man should prize in a wife -- and they're what we should strive to cultivate in ourselves. If we remain vigilant in our efforts to serve God and one another, then we will be prepared to meet the Lord. We can look forward with hope that we will hear Him greet us with the words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."