20171119
ACCOUNTABILITY
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Proverbs 31:10-13,19-20,30-31 ©
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A perfect wife – who can find her?
She is far beyond the price of pearls.
Her husband’s heart has confidence in her,
from her he will derive no little profit.
Advantage and not hurt she brings him
all the days of her life.
She is always busy with wool and with flax,
she does her work with eager hands.
She sets her hands to the distaff,
her fingers grasp the spindle.
She holds out her hand to the poor,
she opens her arms to the needy.
Charm is deceitful, and beauty empty;
the woman who is wise is the one to praise.
Give her a share in what her hands have worked for,
and let her works tell her praises at the city gates.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 127(128):1-5 ©
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O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
O blessed are those who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways!
By the labour of your hands you shall eat.
You will be happy and prosper.
O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
in the heart of your house;
your children like shoots of the olive,
around your table.
O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Indeed thus shall be blessed
the man who fears the Lord.
May the Lord bless you from Zion
all the days of your life!
O blessed are those who fear the Lord.
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Second reading
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1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 ©
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You will not be expecting us to write anything to you, brothers,
about ‘times and seasons’, since you know very well that the Day of the Lord is
going to come like a thief in the night. It is when people are saying, ‘How
quiet and peaceful it is’ that the worst suddenly happens, as suddenly as
labour pains come on a pregnant woman; and there will be no way for anybody to
evade it.
But it is
not as if you live in the dark, my brothers, for that Day to overtake you like
a thief. No, you are all sons of light and sons of the day: we do not belong to
the night or to darkness, so we should not go on sleeping, as everyone else
does, but stay wide awake and sober.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Rv2:10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Even if you have to die, says the Lord,
keep faithful, and I will give you
the crown of life.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn15:4,5
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Make your home in me, as I make mine in you.
Whoever remains in me bears fruit in plenty.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 25:14-30 ©
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You
have been faithful in small things: come and join in your master's happiness
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Jesus spoke this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of Heaven
is like a man on his way abroad who summoned his servants and entrusted his
property to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one;
each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out.
‘The man who
had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five
more. The man who had received two made two more in the same way. But the man
who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s
money.
‘Now a long
time after, the master of those servants came back and went through his
accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents came forward
bringing five more. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with five talents; here
are five more that I have made.”
‘His master
said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be
faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your
master’s happiness.”
‘Next the
man with the two talents came forward. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with
two talents; here are two more that I have made.” His master said to him, “Well
done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small
things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s
happiness.”
‘Last came
forward the man who had the one talent. “Sir,” said he “I had heard you were a
hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not
scattered; so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground.
Here it is; it was yours, you have it back.” But his master answered him, “You
wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and
gather where I have not scattered? Well then, you should have deposited my
money with the bankers, and on my return I would have recovered my capital with
interest. So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the
five talents. For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more
than enough; but from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him out into the dark, where there
will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”’
ACCOUNTABILITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ PROV 31:10-13,19-20,30-31; 1 THES 5:1-6; MATT 25:14-30 ]
This is the
penultimate Sunday of the year. As we approach the end of the year, we
are called to accountability. Like the servants in today’s gospel, we are called to
account for the gifts we have received. This, too, is the message of
today’s second reading when St Paul wrote about the coming of the Day of the
Lord when all will be required to face the ultimate judgment of God for the way
we lived our lives. As such, it behooves us to consider how we have been
faithful and responsible for the graces the Lord has given to us.
In the first
place, no one can deny that he or she has been given the necessary graces to
find fulfillment in his or her life. In the gospel, we are told that the master entrusted three
of his servants with different amounts of talent. The master knew his
servants intimately and therefore knew the capacity each of his servants
had. To those who could do more, he gave more talents. It is true
for us all. We are all made differently for different paths in life. It
does not matter which path we take; we are destined to find happiness in life
so long as we are faithful to our vocation. Everyone can be happy
so long as he or she is faithful to his or her calling in life, whether we are
married, single, homemaker, professional, businessman or public servant.
Happiness is not determined by what we are but who we are. The
office or position or work we do will not make us happy or fulfilled unless it
fits our capacity, talents and capabilities.
Secondly,
fulfillment in life is more than just being blessed with earthly and human
talents.
Such natural gifts are important insofar as they help us to express our life of
faith and love. More important than being bestowed with mere personal
gifts, we are blessed with spiritual gifts of faith, the Word of God and the
gift of the Holy Spirit given to us through the sacraments. Indeed, the
gift of faith is primary, for without this accompanying gift of faith, we will
lose our perspective in life because we will simply just be working for this
life and for this world. Rather, the spiritual gifts remind us that this
world is passing, as St Paul mentioned in the second reading. When the
Day of the Lord comes, all things will be destroyed. He said, “You know
very well that the Day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night.
It is when people are saying, ‘How quiet and peaceful it is’ that the worst
suddenly happens, as suddenly as labour pains come on a pregnant woman; and
there will be no way for anybody to evade it.” For this reason, the responsorial
psalm puts everything in context, “O blessed are those who fear the Lord and
walk in his ways! By the labour of your hands you shall eat.
You will be happy and prosper.”
Thirdly,
fulfillment and happiness come only when we live for God and for
eternity. What we do in this life is but the preparation for eternal
life.
God has entrusted us with gifts so that we can help build His kingdom of love
and life. Our talents are meant to be used to increase and extend the
kingdom of God by promoting the gospel values of life, love, justice, peace,
harmony and joy. All our resources must be used for the building of God’s
kingdom of love and compassion. They are not meant only for our selfish use and
self-aggrandizement. Conversely, we are called to work against the
kingdom of the Evil one that seeks to promote evil, disharmony, selfishness and
egotism. Indeed, St Paul urges us, “But it is not as if you live in the
dark, my brothers, for that Day to overtake you like a thief. No, you are all
sons of light and sons of the day: we do not belong to the night or to
darkness, so we should not go on sleeping, as everyone else does, but stay wide
awake and sober.” We must be alert and live as children of the light, of
life and love, walking in the truth, in justice.
The question
is, how have we made full use of the material, personal and spiritual gifts
that we received? Can we say that we have grown over the years in the way we developed
ourselves, our talents and our faith? Have we grown in virtues and in
grace over the years? Or have we received these graces in vain? God has
given us generously His graces in this life. Not only has He bestowed
gifts on us, but He allowed us the freedom to use these gifts creatively for
the good of all. He trusts us totally, that we would use the gifts well
according to what we think is best. He does not dictate how we should use
it but left it to our initiative and resourcefulness.
Are we like
the first two servants who earnestly went about to invest the gifts that the
Lord had given to them? This is the proper and loving response to the
gifts we have received; using them well and for the service of others. Like them, we must take the
courage to increase our productivity and to take risks. This is to follow
the example of the perfect wife described in the first reading. She
exemplifies how one should live his or her life, by being devoted to God and to
the family and to society. She was not just faithful to her family but
also extended her hands to the poor and the needy. She sought to please
God in all things. Indeed, this is what God requires of us. She is
always laboring in the vineyard of the Lord. A man who gives himself
completely to the service of his fellowmen would have no time to idle, to let
the devil distract him or make him inward-looking or fall into self-pity.
The
consequence of giving ourselves entirely to the service of God and man is that
we grow as well. The reward of doing well is to be given more
responsibilities because it means that we have grown in capacity to do
more. Whether it is in our work or faith, the more we grow them, the
better we become. Hence, the servants who fulfilled themselves by
developing and exploring all the talents given to them were given greater
responsibilities. The master said, “Well done, good and faithful servant;
you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with
greater; come and join in your master’s happiness.” Conversely, what we
fail to develop will also be taken away from us. To the lazy
servant, the master said, “So now, take the talent from him and give it to the
man who has the five talents. For to everyone who has will be given more, and
he will have more than enough; but from the man who has not, even what he has
will be taken away.” This is true for those who fail to develop their faith and
spiritual life as well. They lose them eventually. What we do
not use or develop will be lost in time to come. Either we are living or
dying, growing or decaying. This is the nature of life.
What is
preventing us from making full use of what the Lord has given to us? It
is the lack of relationship with the Lord. We read that the third
servant was fearful of the master. He was afraid to invest the money that
was given to him. He said to the master, “Sir, I had heard you were a
hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not
scattered; so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground.
Here it is; it was yours, you have it back.” He did not know his
master well enough. He was burdened with a false image of the Lord.
When we see God in this manner, we will only do the minimum to avoid being
punished. We bury our gifts and leave them undeveloped.
We are
motivated by the wrong kind of fear that the bible is speaking about. The proper fear is
fear that comes from reverence, awe and gratitude to God’s generosity, trust
and forgiveness. Indeed, our attitude towards God and life itself, when
motivated by fear, will impair us from doing more. We need to be
motivated by love and trust in His divine power at work in us. Instead of
fear, we must respond with hope and love because we know that God loves us and
will give us the grace to accomplish what He wills for us as He qualifies those
whom He chooses. It is true that the master reaps where he does not sow, but
this only shows His divine power to do all things. But the master was
anything but unreasonable, because he did not demand his servants to produce
beyond what they were given or able to give. What they produced should be
in proportion to what they had been blessed with.
Instead of
being driven by fear like the early Christians on the impending Day of the
Lord, we must be driven by love and life. Those who are afraid of the Last
Judgement, or even of accountability in this life are those who have been
irresponsible. Otherwise, we should be happy to face judgement because it
means reward. Hence, we know whether we have been responsible and
grateful for what we have received when we look forward to the day of judgment
either in this world or in the next. When our conscience is clear, there
is nothing to be afraid of. The lazy servant was cast into darkness
because he failed to realize his life-mission. The failure to become who
we are is what sin is all about. It means that we have failed to reach
the target. The lazy servant failed to find fulfillment because he was
inward-looking. He feared and resented his master and that paralyzed him
from giving himself fully to what the master had given to him to develop.
So let us
walk as children of light, not of darkness, as St Paul urges us. Let us be the light
of Christ to all by the way we use our gifts for the glory of God and for
others. Let us not just develop our faith but also our talents.
When St Paul urges us to be sober and alert, he is inviting us to be alive and
creative in our faith and love, using all our resources for the building of His
kingdom. Most of all, let us witness to the Lord, for by witnessing
to Him, we grow in faith. We evangelize ourselves as we evangelize
others. Let us be willing to take risks and step out of our comfort
zone to witness to Christ and His love.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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