Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 31, 2019
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.'”
At first, today’s parable seems one of the hard passages in the Gospels. Because this is a parable, we know it is not about finance or gain, but it is still cryptic. The angry master contrasts vividly with figures in other parables—the good shepherd, the father of the prodigal son, or the woman who finds her lost coin. His rebuke of the servant who buries his treasure diverges sharply from the forgiveness Jesus demonstrates time and again in his ministry.
The responsorial psalm with its theme of justice and its images of each part of creation praising the Lord in its own way provides a vertex by which to understand this parable. If we think about imitating God’s justice by doing what we were created to do, the parable is about developing the graces, the skills, the abilities we have been given. Even if we think we have gotten less than others or short shrift, the parable calls us to do justice to the gifts we have been given. We must, as the Didache says, “do what we can.” We are to develop who we are, to become truly ourselves, so that we may enter into God’s joy and participate in God’s delight in us.
Joe Evans, the legendary Notre Dame professor and Maritain scholar, used to quote Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “As Kingfishers Catch Fire,” reminding students that “the just man justices . . . .” For Hopkins, the just man is Christ, “For Christ plays in ten thousand places, / Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his / To the Father through the features of men’s faces.” Today’s parable calls us to be Christ, to let Christ play in us, by using who we are to become fully ourselves.
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
St. Raymond only barely survived his own birth, yet went on to lead many, even his captors, to new life in Christ.
Raymond was born in 1204 in Spain, though his mother died while in labor, which prompted his delivery by Caesarian operation. This is the origin of his surname, “Nonnatus,” which means “not born.”
His father planned for Raymond to join the royal court, but he felt called to religious life. His father then assigned him the task of overseeing one of the family farms. Raymond spent all of his time in prayer and in conversation with the shepherds and hired hands, so his father gave up on his plans.
Raymond became a priest and spent all he had to ransom Christians captured by Muslims. When he ran out of money, he gave his own life for another Christian and was sentenced to die. His captors realized that he would be worth more if he could bring a ransom, so he was imprisoned and tortured, but succeeded at converting some of his guards. To keep him from converting others, his captors bored holes through his lips and locked his mouth shut with a padlock.
He was eventually ransomed and lived the rest of his life as a poor monk; he died in 1240. Because of the circumstances of his birth, he is patron of expectant mothers. His relics rest in the Basilica.
St. Raymond Nonnatus, patron saint of expecting mothers, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Raymond Nonnatus is in the public domain. Last accessed March 27, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
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