Come and share your master's joy!

XXXIII Sunday “A” Matthew25, 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. "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.'"******** Today is the last Sunday of ordinary time. Next Sunday we celebrate the feast of Christ the King and then we begin the season of advent and a new liturgical year. The readings invite us to reflect upon the end. I don’t know if so, much the end of the world but at least the final judgement or at the very least the end of our lives. Today the Gospel is the parable of the talents. A talent was the equivalent of 15 years wages, so it is a huge sum of money. 5 talents would be 75 years, or more than one could possibly make in one’s lifetime. A talent is an English, also in Spanish is an ability, a gift, something that one is able to do. Some people have the talent for cooking, others for languages, some people are very good in sports, or an expert in Math. Since this is a parable, I think that Jesus doesn’t want us to think about money. I don’t think that his concern is how much money we have or how much money we make. No, Jesus’ concern is what we possess, but who we are, the life we have received, the good within us, the gifts that Jesus has given us. It is good to remember that God is our father, so God looks at us with the eyes of a father or a mother. We are precious in the eyes of God. The people in the parable are called servants, and a servant is about work or about our service. Our service is how our talents bear fruit, they give meaning to our lives. What does it mean to be a servant in the Kingdom of God? What makes one a good servant? In the Gospel the good servants are the ones who took risks, they are the ones who used the talents that they had been given. They used their talents for the good of the community. We have talents or gifts so that we can be gifts to others, Says Pope Francis in the homily he gave on this Sunday three years ago. So, the difference between burying your gifts in the ground and using our gifts is being service to others. It isn’t just looking after your own needs but looking after the needs of others. That is what it means to be fruitful, to be generous and to share your talents with others. As I said we are coming to the end of the Church year. We have just celebrated the day of the dead. It is time for us to take stock of our lives. One is key for us is to live in our lives in service for others. To use our gifts to help others in need. If we remember the needy in this life we will hear the words of Jesus, “well down good and faithful servant: come, share your master’s joy.”