Please, READ and REFLECT on this for tomorrow. 

33rd Sunday of the Year  “A” 

 *HAVE NO FEAR IN USING GOD’S GIFTS* 

            Each year, when the liturgical cycle approaches its end, the Church proposes to us texts from the Scriptures which touch rather directly on the return of Christ to earth at the end of time.  The epistle of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians clearly alludes to it.  Today's gospel also speaks of it:  the master of the house who goes on a journey is the symbol of Jesus who went away and who will soon return. 

            In today’s gospel parable, Jesus shares a story about trust.  The Master who was going on the journey handed everything he had over to his three servants.  He did not give his servants just a little cash to tide them over until he returned.  He gave everything he had over to them.  When he returned, he expected that his servants would respond by giving their best back to him.  The first two did.  The third gave nothing of himself back to the Master. 

            The story is really about a trust that is never accepted.  The master gives the servant the talent because he trusts in the ability and the intelligence of the servant.  The real problem is that the servant never accepts and lives out that trust.  Instead, he lives in fear; he does nothing; he takes no risks or chances.  That sense of fear; that stance of simply waiting is not rewarded – it is punished. 

            You can imagine what he called him - FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real), as someone defines it, had paralyzed the useless servant. 

            Obviously, the Master is God who is extravagant with His people.  He gives His life to us, all His love, all whom He is.  He does this freely, generously, and without reserve.  The third servant missed this.  He took the money as a risk rather than as a gift.  When the Master returned he said, "Here's everything back, safe and sound."  That is not what the Master wanted.  The Master wanted the servant to be generous with himself just as he had been generous to the servant. 

            God gave Himself as a gift to us.  We are to give ourselves as a gift to others.  Jesus put this another way, "The one who saves his life will lose it.  The one who loses his life will save it."  Everything we have is a gift.  Our lives, in turn, must be a gift to others. 

            The problem with this third slave is that he refused to take risks; he would not step out into the unknown.  Filled with anxiety and fear, he projected his guilt upon his own master.  In the end, he loses everything he owned.  Had he acted with some degree of innocence, he may have received a much more understanding treatment from his master. 

            Jesus used the parable to teach his disciples and us how much the Father trusts us.  You do not give a treasure to someone you do not trust.  And that trust is meant to bring confidence to the person who receives it. 

            This Gospel story can be easily misunderstood as an endorsement of our modern-day achieving society or of high interest rates.  Actually, the lesson has nothing at all to do with investing money or accumulating wealth.  Jesus merely uses the analogy of money to make an important point about our lives as Christians.  Jesus is telling us that each of us is expected to perform our Christian duty according to our individual abilities.  Each disciple of Christ is graced with his or her own unique power and capability to perform God's will.  Each is expected to live up to that power and that capability.  Moreover, the lesson is clear that the power conferred on us grows with use and withers with disuse. 

            The Lord expects us to make the best of what He has given us.  The parable is nothing to do with money.  It is to do with grace.  He expects us to use the gifts of sanctifying grace which He gave us at our Baptism, and which He renews throughout our lives.  His gifts must not lie dormant.  They must increase and multiply.  Otherwise, He will judge us to have wasted what He himself invested. 

            The man who did not invest the money had some wrong ideas about his master.  He was afraid that if the investment went sour he would be punished for his mistake, even though the risk-taking was the master's idea.  Because he feared his master as a fierce and exacting man, he decided to do nothing - and he produced nothing. 

            Jesus gives us this last example in order that we might know what to expect if we do not trust Him.  It is the example of a person who is afraid of God.  "I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground."  We should not be afraid of God.  Let us be afraid of offending Him, let us be afraid of hell, let us be afraid of what Jesus might say to us: "And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth."  But let us not be afraid of God. 

            Paul had to remind the early community of this message.  They were waiting for Jesus’ return.  They wanted to be prepared and ready.  And so, they decided to stop everything; they decided to have tremendous faith in Jesus and just wait for Him to return. 

            But Paul says, "NO" - that is not faith - faith does not mean simply sitting back and putting everything in God’s hands.  Faith means recognizing God’s trust in you – it means living in light and getting on with life.  It does not mean living in fear and complacency.  It means recognizing God’s trust in your ability to carry out His plan and His work. 

            What about us?  The message is the same.  God trusts us.  God has faith and confidence in us.  God knows we can and will make mistakes, but surely that is better than never acting out the trust God places in us.  Who has the greater faith – the one who simply puts everything quickly back in God’s hands or the one who takes some risks and chances in doing something about the problem? 

            Sometimes we pray that things will work out with the other person, but we do not do anything, we do not risk saying or doing anything.  Sometimes we hope and pray that our situation will improve, that things will work out – but we do not reach out and talk to someone about it.  We hope that someone will return to the practice of his or her faith, but we do not want to take the risk of talking about our faith. 

            Real faith is not putting everything in God’s hands right away.  Real faith is recognizing God’s trust and confidence in us and trying to do the best we can, or at least trying to do something.  That third servant never really accepted the trust the master had in him.  Hopefully, as we hear God’s word and share at the Lord’s table, we will know the love and trust of God for us. 

            The talent that the master had given to the wicked servant had not become the property of the unfaithful servant.  This is why the master took it away from him, as if he in fact possessed nothing: "From him who has not, even what he has will be taken away."  Indeed, when God gives His grace to us mere mortal human beings, we need to respond to it with faith; we must correspond to it, striving with our entire being to do so. 

            The grace of God calls for the free consent of the human person, and it is only with this consent that the grace of God becomes God's gift to the whole of the person who receives it in faith.  Without this correspondence on the part of the human person, the grace of God remains a good that belongs to God, and he who believes he possesses it is, in reality, the poorest of men. 

            God has entrusted us to invest this treasure of His in His Kingdom of Love.  Ours now is to carry out that trust, whatever the risk.  Jesus risked His life.  Jesus gave His life in order to reveal to us the depth of the Father's love and concern for us.  He gave His life as the ultimate investment in the Father's promise that the power of His love would win the victory over death itself. 

      Talents are not made to remain buried and hidden in a person's anonymity.  On the contrary, as Jesus said:  "You are the light of the world." (Mt. 5:14) 

      The talents received, whether they be natural or supernatural, must be developed and used for the good of all.  It cannot remain dormant (quiescent) and inactive.  It must either express itself, in good works, or it will dry up and wither, and our last state will be worse than the first.  "For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away." 

            Invest your life -- all of it, even your money -- in the Kingdom of Love.  It is worth the risk.  Invest your life in the Kingdom of Love so that, in the words of today's Gospel parable, the Father of us all may say to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant ... enter into the joy of your Master" (Mt. 25:21). 

            God our Father is a gracious, compassionate, merciful, forgiving and caring God. 

            May your love be upon us O Lord, as we place all our hope, trust and love in You.  Amen.  

           In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  

 

*PROPHETIC PRAYERS & DECLARATIONS FOR MONDAY 9TH NOVEMBER 2020* 

1. May you receive a message this week either in person or electronically that shall cause you to shout hallelujah and sing a new song in Jesus name. 

2. Any attempt by the forces of darkness to steal your *dancing shoes* in the remaining days of this year shall fail in Jesus name. 

3. May you not be too familiar with your destiny helpers as this year draws near to an end. No one born of a woman shall withhold your blessing this week in Jesus name. 

4. This week, the Almighty God shall facilitate the express fulfilment of your vision. Your expectations shall not be cut off. Your hope and aspirations shall not be dashed in Jesus name. 

5. This week, the Lord shall showcase you to your generation. He shall wipe away your tears and replace every sorrow in your home with His everlasting joy in Jesus name. 

6. I decree a divine encounter between you and your destiny helpers/ head lifters as you navigate the world this week. May you not meet with disappointment again in your life. Every spirit of *promise and fail* in your family is hereby terminated in Jesus name. 

7. Today, I cry to heaven on your behalf and declare an end to every *yoke of* *stagnation* in your life and family. The Lord shall grant you *divine introduction and recognition* in Jesus name. Amen. Happy new week!

 *MARANATHA! SHALOM!!!!!!!!!!!!*