Homily for the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

The Parable Of The Talents

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, November 19, 2023

From the lips of Jesus we hear the Parable of the Talents. Jesus tells of a man who is going on a journey. But before leaving, he entrusts his money to three of his servants. To one he gives five talents, to the second two, and to the third, one. He gives to each one according to their ability. After distributing his money to his servants, the man went away. It is worth noting that in the ancient world, a talent was a large amount of money. That the third servant received just one talent does not mean he received a trivial and insignificant amount. While the man was away, the first servant immediately risked the five talents in the open market by trading with it. The second servant does the same. Many of you know the danger of investing your money in the stock market. It is always a risk to do it, but if you don’t, your money won’t grow in value. It is similar to what the first two servants did. In the end, both of them received a rich return on their investments. They doubled their money. As for the third man, out of caution, he buries his talent with the hope of returning it to his master. When the master finally returns, he commends the first and the second servants, and gives them greater responsibilities. For the third man, he rebukes and calls him wicked and lazy. 

What is the meaning and purpose of this parable?  Consider the Parable of the Talents as everything we receive from God— life, breath, being, powers of the mind and will, material goods, spiritual goods etc. Because they come from God, they are meant to become gifts. With this parable, Jesus teaches that no person is born ungifted. You are endowed in some ways by our Creator. You are endowed with certain spiritual and material goods. What are you supposed to do now? Use them for the furtherance of God's Kingdom.  As children of light, we are to build a kingdom of light, life and love. We are to use God’s endowments to build a kingdom of peace, forgiveness and reconciliation. Our nation today needs people of faith to rise up and be counted. For racial and political healing to happen in this great nation, men and women of faith must desire it, preach it, practice it and be involved in making it happen. 

Is the sharing of faith easy? Not at all! The popular attitude today towards religious faith is that of indifference. Religious people are constantly told to make their faith a private matter. Keep it to yourself. Don’t talk about it in the public forum, we are often reminded. If you cave in, it becomes a short road to losing your faith. People would prefer to talk about sports and other things they agree on. From the time of Jesus to the present day, the more you make your faith public, the more you put it at risk. Some people who like you and associate with you, may no longer be comfortable with you. They might call you “weird” and consider your good counsel “a religious jibber jabber. The propagation of the faith is always a dangerous venture. Look at Jesus! Look at the Apostles! Look at the saints! The great Pope John Paul II almost lost his life to gunshot because of his fearless preaching in defense of Christ, Christianity, life and against the horrors of communism. Should that make us withdraw from the preaching of the gospel? Not at all! The Christian faith will not grow unless we give it away, that is, unless we share it. So, I ask you to find some concrete ways to share your faith. You can begin from your home. Find the time, call it “God’s time” to share your faith with your household. Sharing your faith is like risking your money. But Jesus assures that it will pay off eventually. If your faith is of great importance to you, share it with others and it will definitely grow. A lot of people are struggling with unbelief or weakened faith in our society today. As secularism increases, so also is the attack on our faith from different angles. Attack on religion and on God is today widespread. The fear of God is disappearing that people now say the most disrespectful thing to God and about God. But as we share our faith, and announce even from the rooftop that Jesus is Lord, our faith and the faith of the weakened ones among us is strengthened and deepened. 

God bless you!