Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
“Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more,” Christ warns us in today’s Gospel. We often forget this challenge when we find our lives flooded with blessings: of course the Lord wants us to enjoy His gifts, but He also expects that we use those gifts in a way that serves Him and our neighbors. Do we have immense natural talents? The Lord desires that we use them to glorify Him. Are we blessed with great wealth and security? The Lord asks that we share that wealth and security with those who lack it. Those gifts which we benefit from should benefit others as well.
There’s a way of taking Christ’s words as a heavy burden, as if all of God’s “gifts” come with a hefty price tag of expectations. But this perspective is the opposite of the truth. If God expects much of us, it is only because He has given us so many great blessings out of His immense love for us. And if He loves us that much, then He will surely give us the grace to use those blessings in a spirit of charity and joy. No one has more than God, and so we have good reason to expect much from the Lord Himself. Today, let’s ask for the grace to make a return of the great gifts that have first been given to us by our loving God.