Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Gospel today highlights the fact that every single gift that we have is freely given to us from God and that each of these is intended to bear fruit. In the passage itself, this is represented by each of the servants receiving a sum of money from the master. We are not told that they did anything specifically to deserve the money that they were entrusted with, but it seems clear from the aftermath that there was an expectation that they would use what they had been given to great effect.
The physical riches distributed in the reading allegorically represent the riches that God has distributed to us personally in all that we have and are. Certainly this includes our property, our personal financial assets and our property to a degree, but we are so, so much more than that. The real richness of the human person lies in the abilities that God has given us and these are the things that we have the greatest responsibility to share.
Imagine if we never shared the gift of a kind word, if we never shared the gift of laughter, if we never shared our knowledge, if we never exercised our ability to love. When we share our abilities with others, they take root and grow and bear fruit and take on a life of their own that is transformed and multiplied and that goes beyond our mere personal enjoyment of them. Every single thing that we have comes from God and it is thus that we are called to use and share each and every one of our gifts so that we might return to Him the fruits of our labors.