THE WORD BECAME FLESH

Wednesday of 33^rd week in Ordinary Time, 2021

2Macc7:1,20-31

Ps 17

Luke 19:11-28

St. Elizabeth of Hungary

He did nothing

There are ten servants mentioned in today’s parable. What distinguishes one of the servants from the other nine is fear of the man of noble birth who went to a far country and returned as king. This noble ruler who became king is a clear reference to Jesus. The ruler entrusts each of his ten servants with significant resources. He gifts each of the ten with the same financial resource; at no point in the story does he ask for his money back. He just wanted his servants to make good use of what he has so generously entrusted to them. 

Fear paralyzed one of the servants who did nothing with the gift he had been given. Although the ruler trusted him, he did not trust the ruler. He thought it was safer to do nothing than to do something with the gift and fail. This is not the kind of relationship that the Lord wants us to have with him. The Lord has placed rich resources into our possession, the gospel, the Holy Spirit, the community of believers. He wants us to draw on those rich resources and to share them courageously with others. He calls on us to give as we have received, without allowing ourselves to be held back by fear of failure. 

As Mother Teresa once said, the Lord does not ask us to be successful but to be faithful. He wants us to be faithful servants who live generously and courageously out of the fullness that he has entrusted to us. If we are faithful in that way, the Lord will work powerfully through us, including through our failures.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, fill me with a generous and wise spirit that I may use the gifts, talents, time and resources you give me for your glory and your kingdom. Amen.

+Remain blessed