So I was afraid, and I buried my talent in the earth. Here, I return it to you. – Matthew 25:25

Dear Friends,

I was always uncomfortable with the picture of the master in the parable of the talents. He comes down so hard on this timid servant with only one talent. It doesn’t seem fair. Except for the hypocrites, Jesus is remarkably merciful to everyone else. He forgives His friends who run away in time of need, forgives the good friend who denies that he even knows Him, and, gasping for breath, even forgives His enemies who are at the foot of the cross, gloating at having gotten rid of this troublemaker. Where is the mercy for this timid servant?

We can have some understanding of the urgency of using the gifts God blesses us with, when we realize that Jesus gave everything for us. He reached out to help everyone In need, continued to care even when people used Him selfishly, stripped Him of His garments; He gave His life’s blood—and all out of love. The urgency of living our life and not just letting it slip away in fear is at the heart of this parable. It do not matter if we have many talents or only one. All that matters is that we use whatever we have been blessed with, with a sense of hope and delight. It is just plain silly to spend any energy comparing ourselves, or our gifts, with anyone else. God doesn’t want us to be somebody else; He does want us to be all that we can be.

All of us can probably relate to that timid servant. Because we have been hurt at different times, the tendency is to hide from life, to insulate ourselves from pain. But when we do that, something dies in us. That is what Jesus means when He talks about losing even the little that we have. We are either being born, or we are dying. We are either developing our gifts, or letting them deteriorate. Jesus tells us to make sure on our life’s journey that we wear out and don’t rust out, that we truly live each day as a gift and an opportunity to show His love. The theme running through the whole Gospel story is the presence of Jesus who says to us, “Do not be afraid. I am with you always…” May each of us dig up whatever we have buried, give thanks while we have time, and live each day as fully as we can. Then, one day, we will hear the joyous words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Peace,

Father Jerry