You are Talented, Invest, Don't Bury it.

Homily For The Thirty-Third Sunday In The Ordinary Time, Year A, November 19, 2023.

Sunday Readings

“Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.”
–Leo Buscaglia

My Dearest Children of God,

I welcome you into the presence of God on this day of the Lord. Today the Lord reminds us to be productive with our talents rather than to bury it in sin.

You Are Gifted According to Your Ability

Very significant in the readings of today is the parable of the talents found in the Gospel. The talents of which we are stewards represent God’s gift to each one of us. In this parable, a master entrusts each of his servants with a certain number of talents to invest while he goes on a journey. To Jesus’s original audience, a talent meant a very large unit of monetary value. People whose net worth equaled a talent were very well off. This parable, though, is not really about stewarding money. It is about being stewards of the gifts and abilities God entrusts to us. This is why the English word “talents” doesn’t mean money, but gifts and abilities. When we say someone is talented, we don’t mean they’re rich; we mean they’re gifted. The first thing to notice about the servants in Jesus’s parable is that they are given their talents. “To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability” (Matthew 25:15).”

Your Talent Is God’s Gift For The Common Good, Don’t Boast With It!

The master wasn’t obligated to give the servants anything. Each servant received his talents by the benevolence and grace of the master. The implication of this is clear. Not one of us has any ground for boasting about our talents. “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it ?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). In 1 Cor 12:4- 11, Paul speaks of these spiritual gifts and says that it is the same Lord that empowers them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good, which is to serve others.

Though Our Talents Are Of Different Measures, Everyone receives What is Right For Him

One important fact in this parable is that we need to be cognizant that no one is deprived of talent from the Master, who is Jesus Christ the Lord. “God does not give the same things to everyone in the same way. He knows us personally and entrusts us with what is right for us; but in everyone, in all, there is something equal, the same, immense trust.” –Pope Francis . That some are given more does not imply that they are more favored or more worthy than others, but that they have a responsibility according to their ability. So no matter how insignificant you might think your responsibility is, God still expects you to be productive with it. “Give something, however small, to the one in need. For it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God if we have given what we could.” -St. Gregory Nazianzen

Those who Invest in others rather than on Material Acquisition Multiplies God’s Gift

It is a truism that more capital in business means more purchasing power or more investing capacity, but the success of a business does not depend on how much is invested, but on how finances are managed to ensure a good return on the investment and this is determiend by how much risk one is willing to take. The servant who returned an extra five talents and the one who returned an extra two were able to do so because they invested rightly, they could have lost the entire talent had they invested wrongly. It wasn’t the amount,the number of talents, but their positive efforts, courage, and being motivated by the generosity of the master that made them fruitful. They were fruitful because they invested in the lives of others and not in material acquisitions. Where do you invest your talents? The greatest investement ever made is on human development on improving lives. Those who invest on others multiplies God’s gifts.

God has endowed each one of us with gifts that should be used in producing good fruits, multiplying the goodness in the world, and in adding value to the lives of many. Unfortunately, like the last servant who buried his talent,many have buried their talents through sinful living and ingratitude which stifles divine grace. ” The hole dug into the soil by the ‘wicked and slothful servant’ , points to the fear of risk which blocks creativity and the fruitfulness of love, because fear of the risks of love stops us. Jesus does not ask us to store his grace in a safe! Jesus does not ask us for this, but He wants us to use them to benefit others.” -Pope Francis

We all received talents as gifts from God but what we do with them is what makes the difference in each person. When we use our talents to work for the glory of God (He is the source of the increase) we increase our gifts, but when we work for our selfish gains we become spiritually bankrupt.

God is not Partial with HIs Gifts

Do you complain of being less favored ? Do you think God is partial with His talents? Are you ungrateful for the little you received and envious of those who have more talents? First, ask yourself this. Do I make sincere efforts to put into good use by touching lives with the little I did receive? The degree of effort we put in utilizing our gifts for the glory of God is what adds more value or increases our gifts. We must not undervalue what we have been given. Some are given more, some are given less, but all are given much. And Jesus tells us , “Everyone to whom much was given, of him, much will be required, and from him to whom much was entrusted, much will be demanded .” (Luke 12:48)

Those Who Are Fruitful and Productive are Favoured The More

God rewards our due diligence and efforts in bringing forth positive things from our gifts, when we are multiplying the little He has given. I have often wondered if this saying that “the rich often get richer, and the poor often get poorer” could be true in some sense? Pay attention to what the master said to the servant who buried his talents. The master said, “Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten.” The implication here is that one now has 11 talents and another is left with zero talents. This appears to be unfair to the one who has nothing, but this is to tell us that in the economy of Grace only those who are productive with their gifts gain more spiritual strength through their gifts. While those who bury their gifts become spiritually impoverished or bankrupt.

Here is the secret to increasing your talents. Invest in others rather than in things. Contribute positively to anything that will bring glory and honor to God. Be positive in dealing with people, avoid deception, but value honesty. Do not presume anyone is bad, avoid prejudice and discrimination. Never ignore God in the faces of the poor and needy. This we heard in the first reading. Always be ready to give account knowing that you are simply a steward and not the owner of your talents. With this in mind, live righteously and in humility as a servant and not as a master of your gifts. The moment we begin to live as masters of our talents we lose the consciousness of our stewardship and lapse into the sin of pride.

Don’t Bury Your Gifts

To bury our gifts is to use them for self-aggrandizement and sinful living. Many today are like the servant who buried his talent because he felt that the master does not treat him fairly and that the master reaps where he didn’t sow. How often do we bury our talents, not out of laziness or ingratitude but because of shame? Shame that feeds into the lie that we are somehow not good enough to accept what God has given us. Breakaway from such a lie and see yourself highly favored and capable of bringing joy into the lives of others. Those who bury their talents are stingy to the poor and those around them. They find it over much to help someone in need. They rarely spare their time to help others or volunteer for anything good. That is why their talents remain buried and never increase in spiritual worth.

Benediction!

May God give us the grace to be generous and productive with God’s talents. So that on the last day, the master will find us good and faithful servants who will shear in His joy. Peace and blessings.