33rd Sunday in Ord. Time – 15th November 2020 — Gospel: Mt 25,14-30
Invitations to Discipleship
At the outset, some serious questions arise from the parable: Why is the judgment against the third slave so harsh? Is this the type of God we worship – a God who rewards the rich and makes them richer and condemns the poor, only making them poorer? However the parable should not be used simply as an admonition for good financial practices. We should avoid justification of the materialist’s approach to life.
It is important to highlight certain unusual elements in the parable, in order to understand differently. What is striking is the superabundance of gifts. A talent is a vast sum of money and generously distributed to the servants though in different amounts. The master entrusts his wealth freely to his servants. Not only is he trusting them with his wealth, he does so over a long period of time. It is a gift of time, a “long time,” allowing the servants to live faithfully in this superabundance. If we emphasis on the last scene and the judgment of the third servant, the parable becomes merely a story about judgment. However, if we put more emphasis on the superabundant gifts as described at the beginning of the parable, then we understand the deeper reality of the kingdom of heaven. For the master invites his servants into a fullness, a superabundance of grace that is continually offered.
After possessing the gift of the talents, the master is inviting his servants to share in his joy. The joy of the master is the joy of the feast that is self-giving, sharing, being distributed into the world. In this sense, the interest gained on the talents is like the hundred-fold that the disciple receives when he or she gives everything away to follow Jesus (Mt 19,29). The first two servants enter into a greater fullness than before. Their obedience of trust is not a burden, but is precisely the joy of discipleship that includes the gift and the interest. Indeed, the parable emphasizes that the interest happens in giving away. If we understand this parable as a parable of invitation, then the master is inviting continually into superabundance, grace and joy, which is nothing but inviting into discipleship. In that case, the third servant is not able to hear or accept the invitation. The third servant has not only hidden the talent, he has buried himself. The third servant is not so much condemned as he condemns himself to a place that knows no joy, that knows only darkness and wailing and grinding of teeth.
