First Reading Commentary
Generally the First Reading and the Gospel have
somewhat identical themes. Thus, when
comparing the two, “trustworthiness” would be an appropriate word to sum them
up. Being someone that others can trust
is valuable but trustworthiness in this case deals more with the willingness to
be what God made us to be by making use of the gifts He entrusted to us. And God had something special in mind when He
created the vocation of wife.
There’s a commercial on television in which
children are playing in a room and they have completely demolished the
room. When the father walks in and sees
what they did, he looks completely overwhelmed and all he can do is say: “Where
is your mother?” as if she was to be his scapegoat. It is doubtful that husbands would argue
against the fact that wives are the glue which holds everything together.
When a wife is faithful to her vocation then she
is faithful to God and worthy of His trust.
And that worthiness and faithfulness will be rewarded at the eternal
gates.
When reflecting on this Reading one also cannot
overlook the prophetic angle – the Bride of Christ - the Church, Who is always
concerned for the poor and the needy.
Second Reading Commentary
How many of our dearly departed brothers and
sisters got out of bed one morning without a clue that they would never return
to the comfort of that bed? Saint Paul
Consider the contrast of the thief that comes at
night and the children of the light or day.
Most of us are literally children of the day - the day hours are when we
are awake and conduct our daily duties.
During the night at rest, anything other than sleep occurring,
especially something as extreme as thievery, is unexpected. Living, breathing and walking in Christ’s
marvelous Light could spare us from the shock value of a sudden disruption of
the normalcy of life or the momentous event of the Parousia.
One very important commonality among us is that
regardless of what we believe or how we live our life, someday we will all meet
God Face-to face; but by following the plan and example Jesus gave us, it
doesn’t have to be an encounter wrapped in trepidation.
Gospel Commentary
The parable in this Gospel delineates the
faithfulness that is expected of Christians by using the gifts that God gives to
each of us.
God is the “Man going on a journey”. We are the servants. Faith is a gift from God and along with the
gift of faith are various talents which our Lord gives us in order to exercise
and share our gift of faith.
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem has written much about
faith and here are portions of what he taught: “You must as it were deposit
this gift of faith in the bank for safe-keeping and God will demand of you an
account of your investment. You have
been entrusted with an immortal treasure and the Lord will require an account
of it from you at the time of His appearing.
Small are its roots, great the spread of its boughs. In a flash faith can produce the most
wonderful effects in the soul.
Illuminated by faith it gazes at the glory of God as far as human nature
allows and ranging beyond the boundaries of the universe it has a vision,
before the consummation of all things, of the judgment and of God making good
the rewards He promised. As far as it depends
on you then, cherish the first gift of faith which leads you to God and you
will then receive the higher gift which no effort of yours can reach, no powers
of yours attain. Pay attention, then
brethren, to the truths of faith now being handed down to you and write them
deep in your hearts. Keep a careful
watch and be on your guard against foes and heretics intent on perverting your
faith and plundering it.”
This great saint’s teachings, as they apply to
this Gospel, begs the question: Am I driven to increase the knowledge of my
faith or am I content with disregarding it and burying it? Saint Cyril tells us that God will demand an
account. Is anyone on Judgment Day
prepared to hear the words “You wicked, lazy servant!”?
This Gospel also says something about effort. It takes effort to share our talents and increase
the knowledge of our faith; but it also takes effort to dig a hole. Thus “lazy” in this parable doesn’t mean a
couch potato but rather squelching what was entrusted.
Fear is also another sprinkled ingredient in
this parable. The first two servants
have a healthy fear of their master, that is, the truest sense of what it means
to fear the Lord. The third servant’s
fear, however, is misguided. Scripture
tells us that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (cf. Proverbs 9:10 ). The psalmist writes: “If You, O Lord, will
mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand it; for with You is merciful
forgiveness” (Psalm [129] 130:3-4). As the Lord entrusts us with the gift of
faith, the faithful servant trusts in his Master’s kindness, gentleness and
mercy. This is the proper fear of the
Lord because the servant is awestruck by the superiority of his Master, but the
Master is not a dictator or an oppressor.
Instead, He loves His servants and wants what is best for them.
The other kind of fear is rooted in either a
willful disobedience to God or timidity about making a mistake with what has
been entrusted. The former is found in
the Letter of Saint James: “You believe that God is One. You do well. Even the demons
believe that and tremble” (James 2:19 ). Who is more willfully disobedient to God than
demons? And yet, they tremble before
Him. The latter is the example of the
third servant in this Gospel. It
basically says that I believe in God but it is better not to serve Him because
if I make a mistake I will be judged with the same severity as a demon. This servant hasn’t accepted God’s love. Scripture teaches that perfect love casts out
fear (cf. 1 John 4:18 ).
Why then, is the third servant thrown “into the darkness outside”? He is “wicked” because of his preconceived
notions that his master is a harsh employer; and this belief sentenced him to
exactly what he believed. The moral is
pretty self-explanatory: Trust in what God has revealed about Himself through
Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, be a trustworthy, “good and faithful
servant” and “share your Master’s joy”.
