33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
My dear parishioners.
God Is Good!!! All the Time!!! And All the Time !!! God Is Good!!!
Each line of the beautiful poem in Proverbs 31 begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This requires 22 lines altogether. Understandably, this reading represents only a portion of the poem. Its theme is the perfect spouse. On one level, the reading is a wonderful tribute to a loving wife. However, since this poem belongs to a wisdom book, this perfect spouse should also be understood as the wisdom God bestows upon a faithful people.
Wisdom’s worth. The reading begins on the theme of wisdom’s inestimable value to those who find her. Implied here is the joyful conclusion to an intense search for just the right partner. Once she is discovered, there is nothing to match her value. The reading declares she is worth more than fine pearls. Readers may recall that Lady Wisdom likewise was said to have a value beyond the finest gold and the most precious stones (Prv 8:10–11).
The setting. In the parable of the talents, an absentee landowner entrusts rather large sums of money to his servants to care for while he goes away on a journey. One servant gets five talents (around $5,000), another receives two talents (around $2,000), and a third servant receives one talent (around $1,000). Without hesitation, the first two servants take their talents and through trading and investing double their master’s money. The third servant who received the one talent simply buries it in the ground, where it earns nothing.
Resourceful investing. After a long absence, the master returns and settles up accounts with his three servants. The master is extremely pleased with the way that the first two servants were able to double the money he had entrusted to them. Because of the great resourcefulness of these two servants, the master gives them added responsibilities and invites them to share in the master’s joy. The master sees them as ideal stewards, and things could not have gone better for them.
Reprimand and judgment. The third servant gives his one talent back to the master but not before providing a context for why he did what he did. The master is demanding, dishonest, and ruthless. Out of fear of the master, the servant buried his talent. The master not only affirms this servant’s negative allegations, he adds to them. The least the servant could have done would have been to bank the money and draw interest even though Jews were forbidden to take interest on loans to fellow Jews. The master is outraged at this servant, calling him wicked and lazy. His talent is taken and given to the servant with the 10 talents. He is then thrown out into the darkness of pain and punishment. Is it possible that this servant is the hero of the story for refusing to take part in a dishonest and ruthless process that guarantees that the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer? Does this servant not exemplify well the message Jesus proclaims about the poor in spirit being blessed?
Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Aloysius