Enter Into the Joy of Thy Lord

Gospel Reflection for November 19, 2023 - Matthew 25:14-30

For even as a man going into a far country, called his servants, and delivered to them his goods;

And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to every one according to his proper ability: and immediately he took his journey.

And he that had received the five talents, went his way, and traded with the same, and gained other five.

And in like manner he that had received the two, gained other two.

But he that had received the one, going his way digged into the earth, and hid his lord's money.

But after a long time the lord of those servants came, and reckoned with them.

And he that had received the five talents coming, brought other five talents, saying: Lord, thou didst deliver to me five talents, behold I have gained other five over and above.

His lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

And he also that had received the two talents came and said: Lord, thou deliveredst two talents to me: behold I have gained other two.

His lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant: because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

But he that had received the one talent, came and said: Lord, I know that thou art a hard man; thou reapest where thou hast not sown, and gatherest where thou hast not strewed.

And being afraid I went and hid thy talent in the earth: behold here thou hast that which is thine.

And his lord answering, said to him: Wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sow not, and gather where I have not strewed:

Thou oughtest therefore to have committed my money to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received my own with usury.

Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him that hath ten talents.

For to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: but from him that hath not, that also which he seemeth to have shall be taken away.

And the unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:14-30 DRA)

In the readings for this Sunday, which continue, particularly in the Epistle and Gospel, with the eschatological theme of remaining spiritually vigilant and holy in preparation for the final judgment at the return of the Bridegroom, three more types of responsiveness to Christ's Second Coming are revealed. These go along with the two types described last Sunday in the wise and foolish virgins. Now, in the parable of the talents, Our Lord uses a story to illustrate the judgment of souls after death. Following the “journey” of His Ascension, when His human nature departed from its earthly home for a time (but remains with us in its sacramental perpetuation in the Eucharist), Christ bestows various degrees of grace on His servants.

The grace He offers is in fact infinite, as He gives us “all things” that have been committed to Him by the Father (Mt 11:27) and indeed His very life which He laid down for His friends on the Cross; however, the amount of grace or “talents” that each disciple can receive depends upon his capacity. Just as St. John the Baptist recognized that “He must increase, but I must decrease”, (Jn 3:30) so the “ability” according to which Christ distributes His gifts is based on how each Christian has emptied himself of pride, selfishness, vanity and other sinful hindrances to God's indwelling presence, through “faith that worketh by charity.” (Gal 5:6) Charity empties the soul of all its artificial and idolatrous worldly substitutes for the divine life of God, thus allowing Him to fill up the rest to overflowing and conform us fully to His likeness. In this way, while all saints are in Heaven, not all are equal: some were more or less filled by God, with the Blessed Virgin Mary being the highest of all, so humbled that she became one with her divine Son in body and soul, even partaking of His sufferings on the Cross and participating in His sacrifice as co-redemptrix. Even now, she continues to distribute His gifts through her intercession, thus acting according to her ancient title of mediatrix of all graces.

While it can be said that the talents to which Christ refers primarily symbolize spiritual grace, they also certainly represent earthly goods, including both interior gifts of wisdom, knowledge and willpower as well as exterior gifts such as athleticism, practical skill, wealth and authority: “This parable is delivered against those who will not assist their neighbours either with money, or words, or in any other way, but hide all that they have.” (Chrysostom, Catena Aurea) However, the parallel is less exact, since, as in Christ's parable of the widow's mite, worldly success is not equivalent to spiritual success; rather, as God told the prophet Samuel, “the Lord beholdeth the heart”, (1 Sam 16:7) and so it is the disposition of the will in love of God and neighbor that is truly a good use of our God-given talents, whatever they may be. For those who have emptied themselves and act with greater charity, more grace is received, so that for those who have, more will be given, but for those filled with pride, what little gifts they have received, whether in grace or success, will be squandered by them and imputed to others.

The servant whose soul was so filled with pride that he could receive only one talent is reminiscent of the rich man in Christ's parable who, after being eternally excluded from God's goodness in Hell, had the audacity to blame Christ for his just punishment, for receiving what he desired and merited by his life of greed. (Lk 16) Likewise, the servant in this parable has become contented in his sins, rendering him pusillanimous and slothful in pursuing excellence and fearful of repenting of his sins. Instead, he accuses his Master of unjustly demanding the goods earned by others, the talents gained by his fellow servants in addition to their original trusts; with ingratitude and presumption, he commits what would later be called the heresy of Pelagianism, believing that he or anyone else could possibly merit salvation by his own efforts apart from God's grace: “And thus for punishment he shall be cast into outer darkness who has of his own free will fallen into inward darkness.” (Gregory, Catena Aurea)

The wicked servant has been well represented by Christians throughout history and continues to be so today: “But there are many within the Church of whom this servant is a type, who fear to set out on the path of a better life, and yet are not afraid to continue in carnal indolence; they esteem themselves sinners, and therefore tremble to take up the paths of holiness, but fearlessly remain in their own iniquities.” (Gregory, Catena Aurea) They find that accommodating and placating the world, instead of challenging it and themselves to rise out of sin and follow Christ, is much easier; terms can be redefined so that what is intrinsically disordered becomes simply “differently ordered,” culpability for sin can be diminished through sophistic psychologizing, and anyone who challenges the status quo and holds up a standard of truth and sanctity is canceled while those living in objective sin are allowed to participate in the Sacraments. These servants want to be called Christians, but also emphasize that they are sinners, to the point that their sin is excused and they become Christians in name only, forsaking their role as the light of the world and the salt of the Earth. Because of their negligence and cowardice, the world remains in darkness and hope is sought in false religions, hedonistic pleasures or diabolical ideologies instead of in Christ. As Venerable Fulton Sheen observed, “The greatest disaster that can happen to man or a nation is not to do evil; it is to deny that evil exists by calling evil another name like ‘progress.’”

This should not be the goal of any Christian. Like the holy woman in the first reading and the good servants in Christ's parable, we are called to much more, to use our talents in the service of Christ, offering our gifts of knowledge, skill, treasure and love to bring consolation and encouragement to others and lead them closer to Christ, not to settle for mere survival and ease. At the end of our lives, when we no longer have the time which we take for granted every day to repent and do good works, and when we kneel before the judgment seat of God and all the secret choices of our lives are exposed, may we hear those words of eternal reward and take our place among the Church Triumphant: “Well done, good and faithful servant: because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”

The faithful servant is set over many things, when having overcome the afflictions of corruption, he joys with eternal joy in that heavenly seat. He is then fully admitted to the joy of his Lord, when taken in to that abiding country, and numbered among the companies of Angels, he has such inward joy for this gift, that there is no room for outward sorrow at his corruption. (Augustine, Catena Aurea)

Cover image source: By Андрей Николаевич Миронов (A.N. Mironov) - Own work, Andrey Mironov See also ticket:2015070410013036http://artmiro.ru/photo/religija_zhanrovaja_kartina/pritcha_o_talantakh/4-0-398, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30528194

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