The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today exhort us to contemplate the talents we have for building the Kingdom and the Way that will guide us as “good and faithful servants”.
The reading from the Book of Proverbs is an Ode to a Capable Wife
* [31:10–31] An acrostic poem of twenty-two lines; each line begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. As with many other acrostic poems in the Bible, the unity of the poem is largely extrinsic, coming not from the narrative logic but from the familiar sequence of letters. The topic is the ideal woman described through her activity as a wife. Some have suggested that the traditional hymn extolling the great deeds of a warrior has been transposed to extol a heroic wife; the focus is on her exploits. She runs a household distinguished by abundant food and clothing for all within, by its trade (import of raw materials and export of finished products), and by the renown of its head, her husband, in the community. At v. 28, the voice is no longer that of the narrator but of her children and husband as they praise her. The purpose of the poem has been interpreted variously: an encomium to offset the sometimes negative portrayal of women in the book, or, more symbolically (and more likely), a portrait of a household ruled by Woman Wisdom and a disciple of Woman Wisdom, i.e., he now has a worthy wife and children, a great household, renown in the community. (Proverbs, CHAPTER 31, n.d.)
Psalm 128 praises the Happy Home of the Faithful.
* [Psalm 128] A statement that the ever-reliable God will bless the reverent (Ps 128:1). God’s blessing is concrete: satisfaction and prosperity, a fertile spouse and abundant children (Ps 128:2–4). The perspective is that of the adult male, ordinarily the ruler and representative of the household to the community. The last verses extend the blessing to all the people for generations to come (Ps 128:5–6). (Psalms, PSALM 128, n.d.)
The reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians urges our Vigilance.
* [5:5] Children of the light: that is, belonging to the daylight of God’s personal revelation and expected to achieve it (an analogous development of imagery that appears in Jn 12:36). (1 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 5, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches the Parable of the Talents.
* [25:14] It will be as when…journey: literally, “For just as a man who was going on a journey.” Although the comparison is not completed, the sense is clear; the kingdom of heaven is like the situation here described. Faithful use of one’s gifts will lead to participation in the fullness of the kingdom, lazy inactivity to exclusion from it.
* [25:15] Talents: see note on Mt 18:24.
* [25:18] Buried his master’s money: see note on Mt 13:44.
* [25:20–23] Although the first two servants have received and doubled large sums, their faithful trading is regarded by the master as fidelity in small matters only, compared with the great responsibilities now to be given to them. The latter are unspecified. Share your master’s joy: probably the joy of the banquet of the kingdom; cf. Mt 8:11.
* [25:26–28] Wicked, lazy servant: this man’s inactivity is not negligible but seriously culpable. As punishment, he loses the gift he had received, that is now given to the first servant, whose possessions are already great.
* [25:29] See note on Mt 13:12 where there is a similar application of this maxim.
* [25:30] See note on Mt 8:11–12. (Matthew, CHAPTER 25, n.d.)
Molly Mattingly comments that the liturgy is bigger than just “me and God,” bigger than just us in the building at the time, and bigger than our particular parish. We participate in the liturgy with the whole Church across the globe and through time, with the communion of saints. Now, imagine that multitude all in-sync, singing and playing the same song of following Christ, listening and responding in harmony, and yourself as part of it!
There is a dying to self in the vulnerability of giving your voice, your musical expression, to the liturgical expression of the Body of Christ, to God and to the human beings with whom we commune. Like John the Baptist, we decrease so that Christ may increase: the Body of Christ singing in unity, many voices as one, breath and heartbeats aligned. One body, many parts. One small “talent” offered, shared, and doubled by God, and returned to God. May God prosper the work of our offering! (Mattingly, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes “Eternal Joys,” by Gregory the Great (540-604 AD).
"All the good deeds of our present life, however many they may appear to be, are few in comparison with our eternal recompense. The faithful servant is put in charge of many things after overcoming all the troubles brought him by perishable things. He glories in the eternal joys of his heavenly dwelling. He is brought completely into the joy of his master when he is taken into his eternal home and joined to the company of angels. His inner joy at his gift is such that there is no longer any external perishable thing that can cause him sorrow." (excerpt from FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 9.2) (Schwager, 2023)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 25:14-30 comments that in this parable, Jesus is doing more than giving financial advice. He’s teaching us how to be ready for his return in glory.
Now in today’s parable, Jesus tries once more to show his disciples how to be ready for his return. He wants them—and all of us—to enter the feast of heaven and “share [our] master’s joy” (Matthew 25:21). And that requires faithfulness. Jesus wants us to be like those servants who earned a return. He’s urging us to stay alert, obey his commands, and be faithful “in small matters”(25:21). Every act of love and obedience will help us to live as children of light. Then our hearts will be ready to greet Jesus and hear him say, “Well done!”
“Lord, help me to be faithful, even in the small things.” (Meditation on Matthew 25:14-30, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler notes that Proverbs 31 is one of few hymns where women are praised as having worthiness, but, he notes, from a man's point of view. The Letter of Paul addresses the question of when we will be “caught up into the clouds.” Friar Jude reminds us to live with integrity and gratitude for our gifts as we use them as trustees of the treasures of God to build the Kingdom.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, teaches that all of creation is connected and interdependent, each facet bearing inherent dignity as part of the being of God. Richard explains what we can learn from the medieval idea known as the “great chain of being”. Today we might call it “the circle of life.” If God is Being Itself (Deus est Ens), as both St. Bonaventure and St. Thomas Aquinas taught in the thirteenth century, then the great chain became a way of teaching and preserving the inherent dignity of all things that participate in that Divine Being in various ways.
These are the links in the great chain of being:
Link 1: The firmament/Earth/minerals within the Earth
Link 2: The waters upon the Earth (snow, ice, water, steam, mist)
Link 3: The plants, trees, flowers, and foods that grow upon the Earth
Link 4: The animals on the Earth, in the skies, and in the seas
Link 5: The human species, capable of reflecting on the other links
Link 6: The heavenly realm/Communion of Saints/angels and spirits
Link 7: God/the Divine Realm/the Mystery that creates a universe as such, which needs a Center, Source, and Ground for any coherence.
Such a graphic metaphor held all things together in an enchanted universe. If we could not see the sacred in nature and creatures, we soon could not see it at all. [1]
As the medieval theologians predicted, once the chain was broken and one link not honored, the whole vision collapsed. Either we acknowledge that God is in all things, or we have lost the basis for seeing God in anything. Once the choice is ours and not God’s, it is merely a world of private preferences and prejudices. The “cosmic egg” is shattered. (Rohr, 2023)
We are working in the fields of the Lord in many ways as the Spirit guides our efforts and we attend to our desire to be “good and faithful servants”.
References
Matthew, CHAPTER 25. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved November 19, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/25?14
Mattingly, M. (2023, November 19). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved November 19, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/111923.html
Meditation on Matthew 25:14-30. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved November 19, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/11/19/832905/
1 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 5. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved November 19, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1thessalonians/5?1
Proverbs, CHAPTER 31. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved November 19, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/proverbs/31?10
Psalms, PSALM 128. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved November 19, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/128?1
Rohr, R. (2023, November 19). God Is Being Itself — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved November 19, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/god-is-being-itself/
Schwager, D. (2023, June 16). The Master Will Settle His Account with Them. Daily Scripture net. Retrieved November 19, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=nov19
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