Gospel – Matthew 25: 14 – 30

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“A man going on a journey
called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.
To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one–
to each according to his ability.
Then he went away.
Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them,
and made another five.
Likewise, the one who received two made another two.
But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground
and buried his master’s money.
After a long time
the master of those servants came back
and settled accounts with them.
The one who had received five talents came forward
bringing the additional five.
He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents.
See, I have made five more.’
His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.
Since you were faithful in small matters,
I will give you great responsibilities.
Come, share your master’s joy.’
Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said,
‘Master, you gave me two talents.
See, I have made two more.’
His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.
Since you were faithful in small matters,
I will give you great responsibilities.
Come, share your master’s joy.’
Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said,
‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person,
harvesting where you did not plant
and gathering where you did not scatter;
so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground.
Here it is back.’
His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!
So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant
and gather where I did not scatter?
Should you not then have put my money in the bank
so that I could have got it back with interest on my return?
Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten.
For to everyone who has,
more will be given and he will grow rich;
but from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away.
And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'”

Reflection on the Sunday Gospel

Let us remember we are in the holy presence of God…

Sometimes we have an act of lessening the severity of certain Gospel passages. For example the famous passage from Matthew 25, which a lot of us reference as the parable of the sheep and the goats, is about Jesus on the Day of Judgment separating the good from the wicked. There is no avoiding this interpretation. The Gospel passage for this week has a similar severity. The passage is commonly known as the parable of the talents. The master, who is interpreted to be Jesus, gives his servants different amounts of his own wealth for them to invest while he is gone on a journey. He is perturbed by one of the servants who buried his share and when the master came back there was no profit. The man who did not invest is condemned to “wailing and grinding of teeth.” What does this passage mean for a Lasallian educator? Not surprisingly, De La Salle has this passage as the focus for one of his Meditations for Times of Retreat. In his thirteenth meditation, De La Salle says that the Brother will encounter Jesus on the Last Day and be judged not by the Brother’s merits or zeal but the effect he had at attaining salvation for his students. In our modern understanding of our growing Lasallian charism Brother can be substituted for Lasallian educator. Here is the excerpt from De La Salle’s meditation:

“Jesus Christ, having been appointed by God to be your judge, will say to you, as the owner said to his manager, Give me an account of your administration. He will then look into the very depths of your heart to examine whether you have been faithful managers of the wealth he has entrusted to you and the talents he has given you to work in his service.”

Brother Javier Hansen, F.S.C.
District of San Francisco New Orleans

St. John Baptist De La Salle…Pray for us.
Live Jesus in our hearts…Forever.