33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

11-19-2017Weekly Reflection©2017 Liturgical Publications, Inc.

"But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master's money." This servant was scared. He didn't want to take any risks and just wanted to play everything safe. As he confesses to his master, "Out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground." And the master was not pleased. The other servants who invested the money he gave them were richly rewarded for their efforts to produce more. But this servant was punished for letting his fear rule the day. What factors are keeping us from making a return on God's investment in us?

He has given us all life, and each of us also has a special collection of "talents" to make use of. We have certain gifts, skills, experiences, resources, and abilities that (though we may not often think about it) come from God. He calls us to make the most of these things, not just to take them for granted or bury them in the ground, so to speak. Our gifts are meant not just for our own enjoyment, but to help others, to spread truth and goodness and beauty to the world around us.

Sometimes, however, we fail to really capitalize on our potential. Laziness, distraction, or self-pity can get in the way if we are unwilling to put in the hard work to improve our natural gifts, if we allow ourselves to zone out with entertainment or frivolous pastimes instead of making good use of the time entrusted to us, or if we wallow in negativity by focusing on what we don't have instead of embracing what we do. Each moment is a gift from God. May we seize every opportunity to multiply the investment God has made in us so that we may be worthy to hear God tell us, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."