CALLED TO BE PRODUCTIVE
1. Much Is Entrusted to Us
2. Take the Risks of Faith
Greeting (cf. Second Reading)
We do not belong to the night or to darkness,
so we should not go on sleeping
but stay wide awake and sober.
May the Lord Jesus be your light and be with you. R/ And with your spirit.
Introduction
1. Much Is Entrusted to Us
The Lord God trusts us more than we perhaps trust ourselves. He entrusts to us a lot of potentials not only to become the persons and Christians he has called us to be, but also to build up the Church and God’s Kingdom. What a trust! He puts himself and the Church and the Kingdom into our hands! That trust is our responsibility. In this Eucharist we ask the Lord Jesus to make us respond fully to God’s deep trust in us.
2. Take The Risks of Faith
It is disheartening to see at times how people with a lot of potentials simply refuse to use their gifts. Are they afraid of committing themselves, of taking risks with people? Perhaps we too are scared to take the risk of putting ourselves into the hands of people. We keep our faith for Sundays but fail to invest it in the goodness of people, in forgiveness when we have been wronged, in speaking out for those who have no voice, in affection that may not be answered. Let us risk ourselves with the Lord here among us.
Penitential Act
We have used God’s gifts too easily
as if they had been given us for ourselves alone,
so we did not serve God and the Church.
We ask the Lord to forgive us.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, when you came among us
you wanted to set us free from all fear:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you have entrusted to us
the future of the Church and of your kingdom:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you have made us
free and responsible in the service of God and the world:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
forgive us for misusing your gifts.
Make us servants with you
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray that we may respond
to God’s trust in us
(pause)
God, our kind and loving Father,
you no longer call us servants but friends.
There is so much you have entrusted to us,
even the future of your kingdom of justice and love.
Give us the grace to work out with you
the growth of mercy and goodness in this world,
to be united with all Christians
and with all who seek you with a sincere heart
in bringing reconciliation and joy to everyone.
Let us go together the way to you,
our living and loving God,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading: The Good Housekeeper Uses All Her Talents
Here is a picture of an exemplary mother and wife. She uses all her talents of mind and heart and faith in the service of her family and also of the poor.
1 Reading: Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31
When one finds a worthy wife, her value is far beyond pearls. Her husband, entrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing prize. She brings him good, and not evil, all the days of her life. She obtains wool and flax and works with loving hands. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her fingers ply the spindle. She reaches out her hands to the poor, and extends her arms to the needy. Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting; the woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her a reward for her labours, and let her works praise her at the city gates.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
R. (cf. 1a) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored. R.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table. R.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life. R.
Second Reading: Keep Awake for the Lord’s Coming
As “children of the light and the day,” we should be ready any time for the Lord’s coming, even though we do not know when he will come.
2 Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6
Concerning times and seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night. When people are saying, “Peace and security, ” then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labour pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober.
Alleluia John 15:4a, 5b
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Remain in me as I remain in you, says the Lord.
Whoever remains in me bears much fruit.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: What Have You Done with Your Talents?
God has given us rich gifts of faith. What have we done with them? With whom of the servants in the Gospel do we identify?
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.'”
Commentary
No Risk, No Gain!
Barnabas was a juggler in a circus before he became a monk. He felt called to enter an ancient monastery to give himself more fully to the Lord. At first he was very happy in the monastery, but after some time he became depressed. He saw that Brother Mark was a great painter and spend his time glorifying God painting icons. Brother Gall used his chisel to make beautiful statues, and Brother John used his pen to copy the sacred scriptures and so glorify the Lord. Poor Barnabas felt that he had nothing to offer and so he told the Abbot that he planned to leave the monastery.
Soon after this the Abbot noticed two things. He noticed that Barnabas was standing straight and looking cheerful again and also that each day, after lunch when the other monks went for siesta, he would go to the chapel on his own. One day the Abbot slipped out from lunch early and hid in the chapel. Barnabas came in and took four candle sticks from the altar. He then went in front of the statue of Our Lady and, standing on his head, did a most wonderful juggling act with the candle sticks. The Abbot from his hiding place was angry at this unbecoming behaviour in the chapel and was just about to come out to reprimand Barnabas when the statue of Our Lady came alive and Mary stepped down and wiped the juggler’s brow with her veil! Barnabas had offered the only talent he had and was richly rewarded.
Today’s gospel parable is about using the talents that have been given to us. An enterprising employer, who hopes that his own flair and daring in business will be reflected by his servants, entrusts his property to them while he goes abroad. He gives them no instructions but just watches for their initiative. As in all stories and jokes with three characters, our attention is focused on number three; the third servant is the one who refuses to involve himself in the spirit of the enterprise. He buries what was given to him because he knows his master is strict. (In one village sharing a farmer said that the third servant was the smartest one. Why should he work hard and make money only for his master?)
In the original situation Jesus is making a point against the Scribes and Pharisees. Their chief aim is to keep the law, which they had been given, exactly as it was – not to change it, develop it or alter it in any way. They said their mission was to “build a fence around the law.” But in this parable Jesus tells us that there can be no religion without risk, adventure and enterprise. Willingness to dare is an essential part of our faith. Where there is no risk there is no gain in spiritual as well as in material matters.
The first two servants risked and gained. The third brought back the master’s money unused and defended himself by focusing on the reputed meanness of the master, not on his own lack of courage as the reason for this failure. So often we too take the problem away from where it is – with ourselves – and place it where it is not – with someone outside. When we do this, we make it impossible to solve our problem; we put ourselves beyond redemption! I knew one man who complained how hard life had been on him. His classmates were all in managerial positions. They, however, said that while they had worked their way up, he wanted to be at the top from the start and blamed others for this failure.
Many people think that prayer is something difficult and complicated. They say it is too difficult and that they have no time. Particularly, if they are asked to meditate – to be still before God without using words or images – they feel that they are not praying. They often, because of insecurity, pad their meditation around with other kinds of prayer. But God asks us to do the little we can, to take a risk – like the monk Barnabas – and he will be quite satisfied. Pure prayer is just to be present in total poverty accepting and offering back the gifts, great or small, that God may have given to us. All we need do is to try to say our prayer word. When we become aware of anything else we show our fidelity by coming back to the little word, the little task. When we do this, virgins in statues may not become alive but we will have done our little best and that is all that the Lord ever expects of us. As the great poet of religious experience, T.S. Elliot put it, “For us there is only the trying.”
Intercessions
What we are and have belongs to God. Let us pray that we may place everything in the service of the Church and of people, and let us say:
R/ Lord, let all our actions praise you.
– That the Church may not be afraid to risk accepting the pains of renewal in Christ and bringing to all of humanity its message of hope and life, let us pray:
R/ Lord, let all our actions praise you.
– That all people may share in the earth’s resources in justice, friendship and peace; that the mighty of this earth may cooperate toward the human and economic development of all nations and all social classes, let us pray:
R/ Lord, let all our actions praise you.
– That women may take with honour their rightful place in the Church and in the world; that their cordiality, tact and sensitivity may warm this hard world with gentleness, let us pray:
R/ Lord, let all our actions praise you.
– That inspiring homes and a good education may equip our young people to place their potentials in the service of the Church and of our people, let us pray:
R/ Lord, let all our actions praise you.
– For all of us here, that we may be responsible under God for our own lives and each other’s happiness; that we may progress in service and unity and enrich one another in love, let us pray:
R/ Lord, let all our actions praise you.
Lord our God, you have generously given us our talents. Do not allow us to be misers but help us to give the best of ourselves, through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
we place ourselves and all you have made us
in these gifts of bread and wine,
that you may return them to us
as the body and blood of your Son.
Accept us with Jesus Christ
and convince us that with him
we have to share ourselves with one another
in our poverty and our riches.
May we thus build up one another
and give shape to your kingdom.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
Let us with joy give thanks to the Father for all the gifts he has poured out on us in his Son Jesus Christ, and let us offer them with Jesus for the good of all in the Kingdom.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
As children of light and of the day
we pray to God our Father
the prayer of Jesus. R/ Our Father…
Deliver Us
Deliver us Lord, from our passivity
and from our paralyzing fear
to commit ourselves to our people.
May we never stand still
to preserve what we have
but always continue to grow in love
and to develop your gifts in us,
that we may give a good account
to him who is to come,
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom…
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus, the Lamb of God.
He gave all he had, his life and death,
that others might live
and become capable of giving themselves.
Happy are we to receive him
and to expect his return without fear. R/ Lord, I am not worthy…
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God, source of all that is good,
through the gift of your Son Jesus Christ
you have made us capable
of sowing the seeds of your life and love.
When you ask for an account
of what we have done with our lives,
may we hear from your own lips
that we have been good and faithful servants
who did much with the little we had,
and that we may enter your lasting joy.
Grant us this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
Our life with all that we are and have
is not ours to possess,
for it is a trust from God.
It is a loan from him,
not to kept safely in a “hole in the ground”
but to work with as best as we can,
each according to his ability.
May almighty God give you the courage
to serve him and people
with all that is in you, and may he bless you:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go in the peace of Christ and be his good and faithful servants. R/ Thanks be to God.