HOMILY FOR THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A. 15.11.2020.
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| The Parable of the Talents |
WHERE DO YOU BELONG: FLIRT OR VIRTUE?
Sometimes in our
discussion, we share ideas on how we flirt with men or women. Often we are so
fast to classify people. We hear discussions of this kind: “That guy/babe is
the flirting type, if you want her, you will get her easily.” Again, we hear
comments of this kind: “This other lady is not like that, she’s a ‘wife material,’
do not joke with her.” These are people predictable to a large extent as
regards their integrity, honesty, fidelity, loyalty, character… and we can beat
our chest to say ‘No,’ this person in question cannot be involved in an ungodly
act. In view of this that the readings of today speaks of a good wife and
accountability of all that has been entrusted to us at the end of time.
The first
reading from the book of Proverbs has a continuous theme on women. The reading
happily echoes last Sunday’s first reading, where wisdom was personified as radiant
and unfading woman. In a similar vein, today’s first reading dwells on the
character and virtues of a good wife, which some other translation presents as
‘virtuous woman.’ This passage is traditionally understood as being addressed
to women but is more accurately spoken
by a woman to a man so he could know the character and potential character of a
good wife. That is, king Lemuel’s mother spoke to him about the qualities
of a virtuous wife. The good or virtuous wife “Is far more precious than jewels and the heart of the husband trust in
her. The virtuous woman seeks good and not harm, she is ready to work with
willing hands, opens her hand to the poor and needy. Above all, a virtuous
woman fears the Lord.” The virtuous wife is a woman with power and
strength, and her greatest strength is her wisdom, rooted in the fear of the
Lord, not the fear of men. Her character is trustworthy, filled with integrity and
productive by nature.
The first
reading still describes the kind of wife the Christian man should pray for and
seek after. Invariably, the reading does
not exclude men from these virtues, it reminds us that we must work in the fear
of the Lord so that we will be worthy of and compatible with such virtuous
woman. Put differently, for a man to find a virtuous woman, he ought to be
virtuous himself, for a man embody what he looks forward to attract. Again, the
virtuous woman is a symbol of the Holy Mother Church, who prepares us to meet
Christ our Lord.
Christ in the
Gospel presents to us the parable of the talents in other to remind us of accountability
to him. In this parable, talent from the Greek word “talenton” is a significant amount of money, not actually an ability
to do something. However, it is appropriate to see these talents as life
resources, they could be our time, money, ability and authority, of which the
master expected his servants to take good care of them, not squandering and not
sitting on them. It is worthy of note
that just as a man can entrust his affairs to a good wife or a virtuous woman,
similarly we see in the Gospel, a man going on a journey, called his servants
and entrusted his possessions to them.
After a long
time the master came to settle account with his servants, he judged them individually.
To the first two servants who multiplied their talents, he said to them, “Well done good and faithful servant.” The
long delay would have tempted them to think that there will be no
accountability of what has been entrusted to them. However, they remained good
and faithful despite the delay of the master. Their success was surrounded by
two qualities: “Goodness and Faithfulness.” These two qualities is enough to
evaluate our lives: are we good and faithful to all that has been entrusted to
us? It is better to be good and faithful in the little we have than to be
unfaithful in riches. When we emulate the qualities of the good wife, wrapped
with faithfulness, we will inherit the kingdom of heaven. This is the promise
of the Lord when he said, “Enter into the
joy of your master.” It has the echo of heaven and there is a sense of it
for those who are good and faithful.
For the third
servant who buried the talent given to him tries to excuse himself because of
the master’s great power. In his pride he said, he said to the master, “There you have what is yours.” It is worthy
of note that this servant realized the fact that what was given to him does not
belong to him. Everything we have was given to us by God and we must account
for them.
This accountability
is evident in the second reading as Paul describe an expectation of the day of
the Lord. It is about the end of time and the second coming of Christ, of which
no one knows the day nor the season. It will be like the coming of a thief at
night, sudden and disastrous for the unprepared, and they will not escape it. Those
who are prepared and vigilant will not be caught by surprise. So we have to be
prepared like soldiers on active service (2 Tim 2:4), ready to render accounts
like the good and faithful servants, and be like the good wife described in the
first reading, ready to please God through her husband and children.
In a nutshell,
the liturgy of today calls us to reflect on the various gift we have received from
God. The talents entrusted to us, are we using them judiciously as good and
faithful servants? Let us take note of this throughout the week as we approach
the end of the liturgical year, we approach the day of the Lord and with certainty,
whether the coming of the Lord is delayed or not, we must account for our
deeds. Peace be with you!
Happy Sunday!
Fr. Ken Dogbo,
OSJ
Thank you father for the soul inspiring homily. A lot of take home from it. More anointing padre.
ReplyDeleteGod help us to be faithful and be conscious of your second coming. Thank you Father for reminding us of our ways.
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