1 September 2018
Saturday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time
In this familiar parable Jesus teaches us that we will surely be held accountable for how we have managed the gifts and graces God has given us throughout our lives. As St. James writes in his letter “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers: all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change” (James 1:16-17). Every gift, every good thing we have or enjoy comes from God, the greatest gift being the gift of His Son (John 3:16): have we been good stewards of these gifts, particularly the latter and most precious gift?
Jesus tells us in John’s Gospel that “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain…” (15:16). As Christians, we are meant to be fruitful, to invest and spend the gifts we have been given in such a way that Our Father, from whom our gifts have come, may be glorified, may make a profit, so to speak. It is not that He is lacking in wealth, but more so because the gifts He has given us came at such great expense: the cost of His Son. The servant who, out of fear, buried the money entrusted to him so he could simply give it back to his master was called not merely lazy, but wicked: when we do nothing with the gifts we have been given, we are guilty not merely of sloth, but ingratitude. Imagine burying the gift that is the Son of God! Hiding it under a basket (Matthew 5:14-15), or otherwise putting it away for fear of any kind: does not such a person, even unwittingly, ally themselves with the Enemy, and prove disloyal to the Lord? Even had the wicked servant placed the money in the bank, this would have been enough to escape condemnation from his master: even our least investment, our least effort to use and grow our God-given gifts will please the Giver.
The cost of failure in this regard is not merely being tossed out, but Jesus says that “…even what he has will be taken away.” We have been given everything: we stand to lose everything. That is precisely because we have been given the greatest gift the Father can give—His only Son—and if we squander it, if we bury it or hide it, thinking that we need only keep it in the same condition in which we received it, then we will lose even this, and if we lose Christ we have nothing.
We must listen to His Word and He will guide us in using these gifts. We must cherish this truly precious gift far and and see its value as being far above any earthly gift: “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Matthew 16:26) We must serve the Giver faithfully even though He seems absent, live in joyful anticipation of His coming, and be prepared to make a return to Him for all He has given to us when finally we meet Him face-to-face. If we can, by His grace, do this, then we shall hear those longed for words: “Well done, my good and faithful servant…Come, share your master’s joy.”