15 November 2020

Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s Gospel offers us contrasting images of discipleship in the three servants who appear in the parable. Two of the servants, whom the master calls “good and faithful,” trade with their master’s money in order to earn more. The image is instructive: just as trading in the marketplace involves risk, so also a life of Christian love is a risky endeavor, since it requires a gift of self in a genuine encounter with the other. Indeed, this risk is a necessary condition for any return. And what a return awaits us if we take the risk of love! The servants in the parable double their capital, and they are invited to “share [their] master’s joy.” But unless we are willing to go out of ourselves and encounter others—and for those living in the world, this often means others who may not think or act as we do—there is no way for us to bear fruit, which is central to true Christian discipleship. As Jesus says in John’s Gospel, “By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples” (15:8). 

The contrasting image of discipleship is that of the “wicked, lazy servant” who “out of fear” buried his master’s money. Since love and encounter involve risk, it is easy to remain in a safe, closed circle rather than going out to share the Good News of Christ with others. After all, the “marketplace” of the world is a scary place, filled with people who do not know and love Christ and who may reject the Gospel. If, like the lazy servant, we are struck with fear that we will lose the graces Christ has bestowed on us and provoke the master’s ire, we should remember that Christ has pledged to be “with [us] always, until the end of the age” (Matt 28:20), and that it is God himself who will make our labor fruitful (cf. 1 Cor 3:7).

As we go through the day today, let us reflect on these two images of discipleship, asking our Lord to give us the grace to go out like the “good and faithful servant,” confident that His love and grace are sufficient.