Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 28, 2021
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.’”
From an early age, we are taught to protect ourselves, those we love, and the things we possess. Our parents hold our hands in public spaces, watch us as we play on playgrounds, and close and lock the doors at night. Dad will much sooner allow Junior to drive the old minivan than the recently purchased sportscar.
And yet, in this parable Jesus tells us that the master entrusts much to his servants and then goes away. In a world where parents watch their children’s locations on their phones and these phones are locked with a scan of our faces or fingerprints, the sort of trust that this master has in his servants is unthinkable. Given that many of our doorbells now tell us who walks on our front porches, it is difficult to imagine a master who trusts so much and then departs.
But this sort of thing is exactly what God does. While we sometimes struggle with trust, control, or letting go, God does not. From the beginning, God entrusts Creation to us. We are to care for it and help it to bear fruit. Then we see things like God giving us the Sacred Scriptures over time, entrusting Jesus to a teenage girl in Galilee, offering us the gift of Christ in the Eucharist, and on a personal level, allowing us to care for our own souls.
As today’s parable unfolds, we see how the servants respond to that trust of the master, what they do with the possessions he gives to them. When the master returns, some are rewarded, but not all are. This leaves us with a question: what are we doing with what the Master entrusts to us?
Prayer
You, Father, share your very life with us: the fire of your love. Your love burns away our sin and shines into the corners of our darkness. Your love and mercy clean and save us, painfully proving that we need cleaning and saving. Sometimes we want to forget our neediness, so we bury your love in the cold earth, afraid of the promise of mercy. But to those who have your love, more will be given. Multiply your life in us, and give us the courage to multiply on earth the shining mercy you place in our trembling hands. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Among the thinkers and writers who have articulated the Christian faith, St. Augustine is a giant.
He was born in 354 in north Africa, and at 17 went to Carthage to study rhetoric. He excelled at school out of vanity and ambition, but was consumed by the pleasures of the world. He entered into a relationship with a woman there, who bore him a son.
His mother, Monica, whose feast day was yesterday, prayed without ceasing for his conversion and reform. He began to find disillusionment in his studies and worldview and sought teaching positions elsewhere, ending up in Milan. There he came to know the bishop, Ambrose, who was well-educated and eloquent. Augustine attended Ambrose’s sermons out of pure curiosity, but the preaching began to leave a mark on his heart and mind.
At the same time that he began to see truth in Christiantiy, he was intimidated by the difficulty of living a Christian life and did not have the will to convert from the pleasures of his loose living. His famous conversion experience, detailed in his work, Confessions, happened when he was filled with shame after talking with friends about the heroism of saints. He had a sudden urge to seek guidance from the Bible. Reading Paul’s encouragement to put aside drunkenness and to put on Christ, Augustine was surrounded by peace and his anxiety and hesitation disappeared. He told his mother immediately, who rejoiced and praised God; he was baptized soon after.
Augustine grew in his faith and was eventually named bishop. His contributions to religious life and the advancement of spirituality and theology cannot be overstated. His works still form the bedrock of much of theological study. He died on this date in 430 amid the political and social turmoil of the fall of the Roman empire.
Part of the human condition is the struggle to direct our will towards ultimate goodness. The good things of this world—the pleasures of the body such as good food and drink—are certainly of God, but they are limited goods. If they take a central place in one’s life, they can become a distraction, as Augustine experienced, because they replace God for us instead of pointing us to God.
Augustine finally mastered his own will after years of letting it run free among the world’s pleasures. May we find the same order in our lives and receive the same grace, that we might also love the ultimate and lasting good, God, with all of our hearts.
St. Augustine is named a doctor of the Church, a title given to 37 saints who are known for elucidating the faith by their words or example; he is known as the Doctor of Grace for his understanding and cooperation with God’s grace. St. Augustine is the patron saint of brewers, printers, and theologians.
Relics of St. Augustine rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. In the top image, St. Augustine appears in a statue above the southeast entrance to Dillon hall. He holds a quill, to signify his foundational writing, and a heart, which represents the subject of much of his thought—the nature of love. He is also depicted in the Basilica in several places, as well as in this stained glass image from the chapel in the Eck Hall of Law.
St. Augustine, you explored the depths of human and divine love—pray for us!
To learn even more about Saint Augustine, watch this video lecture from the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame.