20240831 GRATITUDE AND FAITHFULNESS
31 August 2024, Saturday, 21st Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 |
God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, to shame the wise
Take yourselves for instance, brothers, at the time when you were called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the word, how many were influential people, or came from noble families? No, it was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, and to shame what is strong that he chose what is weak by human reckoning; those whom the world thinks common and contemptible are the ones that God has chosen – those who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything. The human race has nothing to boast about to God, but you, God has made members of Christ Jesus and by God’s doing he has become our wisdom, and our virtue, and our holiness, and our freedom. As scripture says: if anyone wants to boast, let him boast about the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 32(33):12-13,18-21 |
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
They are happy, whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as his own.
From the heavens the Lord looks forth,
he sees all the children of men.
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
The Lord looks on those who revere him,
on those who hope in his love,
to rescue their souls from death,
to keep them alive in famine.
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
Our soul is waiting for the Lord.
The Lord is our help and our shield.
In him do our hearts find joy.
We trust in his holy name.
Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.
Gospel Acclamation | Ph2:15-16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
You will shine in the world like bright stars
because you are offering it the word of life.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn13:34 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 25:14-30 |
You have been faithful in small things: come and join in your master's happiness
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.”’
GRATITUDE AND FAITHFULNESS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 CORINTHIANS 1:26-31; MATTHEW 25: 14-30]
The scripture readings today focus on the theme of gratitude and faithfulness. In the gospel, we read how the master “on his way abroad 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.” Indeed, God has given us all different talents and in differing amounts. He has a plan for each one of us to find fulfillment in life by making full use of our talents for the building of God’s kingdom. God is sovereign in bestowing upon us talents for our personal growth and for the service of the community. Each one of us has been given specific roles in life according to our vocation. We have also been blessed with resources, such as intellectual or aesthetic capacity, professional skills, inter-personal relationships, and personal traits.
All these are given as needed for us to fulfill our vocation in life. Hence, we must not be envious of others who have been given more talents than us, or other talents that we do not have. Happiness in life is when we live our life to our full potential. It is not a matter of what we have – riches, beauty, intellectual capacity -but how we make full use of the talents given to us for our growth as we give ourselves for the service of God and others. This is why we should be contented with what the Lord has blessed us with, and consider how best to use them well for His greater glory and for our personal growth in love and in charity. If we are not endowed with the gifts that others have, it is because they are not necessary for our happiness.
Gratitude, therefore, must be our first response to God’s gift. We must not think that these gifts are ours because we worked hard for them, or because we deserve them. Otherwise pride and an entitlement mentality will wreck our lives. When we think we are so good and that we have achieved so much by our strength, we become proud and arrogant. We will assume a superiority complex, look down on others and be full of self-importance. St Paul reminds us when he challenged the egoistic Christians in Corinthians for attributing all glory to themselves, “Take yourselves, brothers, at the time when you were called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the word, how many were influential people, or came from noble families?”
Gratitude is even greater when we, in humility, recognize our unworthiness and inability to achieve our goals on our own. When we remember our humble beginnings, or that of our parents who provided us the opportunities and resources to excel in life, we should be filled with wonder, admiration and gratitude at the way God works in our lives. St Paul made it clear when he said, “No, it was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, and to shame what is strong that he chose what is weak by human reckoning; those whom the world thinks common and contemptible are the ones that God has chosen – those who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything.” God works wonders in our lives as He did with the apostles who were uneducated. He used them mightily to proclaim His gospel and worked signs of power through them. They were able to heal the sick and even miraculously escape from persecution.
This is why, we have nothing to boast about ourselves except God alone. “The human race has nothing to boast about to God, but you, God has made members of Christ Jesus and by God’s doing he has become our wisdom, and our virtue, and our holiness, and our freedom. As scripture says: if anyone wants to boast, let him boast about the Lord.” Truly, we must recognize that who we are today and what we have accomplished is truly the work of grace and the generosity of His bounty. In Christ’s passion and death, God raised Him to new life. This is why Christ is our wisdom. In His death, the world thought that His mission was a failure, but it was God’s plan to humble the so-called wisdom of the world. God works through us when we are not able to do anything except to surrender to Him. Indeed, because of this, Jesus, as St Paul wrote, is “our wisdom, and our virtue, and our holiness, and our freedom.”
The second response to God’s gift is faithfulness. When we are truly appreciative of the gifts of God, we will use them well, both for ourselves and for others around us. We do not keep these gifts only for ourselves but use them to glorify the Lord. This was the case of the first two servants who were entrusted with five and two talents respectively. When the master returned, the man who had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. “Sir, you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made.” The second man also said, “Sir, you entrusted me with two talents; here are two more that I have made.” To both of them, the master replied, “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.”
The reward of faithfulness is growth. Because both servants were diligent and used their resources to invest the talents they were entrusted with, they reaped a hundred per cent of what they were given. As a consequence, the master entrusted them with more responsibilities because by giving themselves to doing well in small things, they could now manage bigger responsibilities. The rule of life is that those who have more will be given more. When we are faithful with what we have, we will be given more to manage because we have shown that we are reliable and responsible. Indeed, workers should never envy fellow workers who are promoted because if they do their job well, they will eventually be recognized by their superiors. When we love, our capacity to love will grow more and more. When we use our talents to serve, whether in teaching, singing, writing, we will become better each day.
On the contrary, if we are like that lazy servant who took the one talent and buried it, we will lose whatever little we have. The third servant perhaps thought that one talent is not worth much and therefore did not bother to do anything with it. Often, we do not cherish the gifts the Lord has given to us. When we see others having better gifts, we will think less of ours. If only we give ourselves to whatever we have and develop them, we will grow as much as others. We will find fulfillment. Laziness is a sign that we are not grateful for what we have received. When people receive gifts and privileges and do not use them, it shows that they do not appreciate them. The Lord warned us, “Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.” (Mt 7:6)
Indeed, we are without excuse. The lazy servant when questioned why he did not take the risk of investing the money, said, “I have 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.” When his master heard his lame excuses, he condemned the servant by the very words that he used. “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.” The lazy servant contradicted himself, for if he truly believed the master was a hard man, he would have worked hard with the talent given to him.
As a consequence, that little he had was also taken away. The master ordered, “So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has 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.” We, too, must also be grateful for what we have received in life, and be faithful to God by using them for the building of His household, unlike the religious leaders during His time, who fossilized the teachings of God.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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