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Institute for Homiletics

A Collaboration of The Catholic Foundation and the University of Dallas

Ordinary Time

How Are Your Investments Doing?

A song in the musical Scottsboro Boys observes that life is what we do while we’re  waiting to die. And this is how our life passes by. Today’s parable calls for a more  purposeful approach: life calls for investing what God has entrusted to you. 

A “talent” was a year’s wages. Jesus uses this parable to warn his followers that  they are to spend their time wisely while waiting for him to return. They will do  this by investing the treasure God has given them. Jesus was not talking here  about natural talents, though that is a worthy enterprise. But a disciple of Jesus  is to do something with the treasure of the gospel, the good news of the kingdom  of God, the gift of faith in Jesus Christ. 

God expects a return on this investment with us. We are to share the Good  News with others, not keep it to ourselves. The gospel is the greatest treasure  we have been given. We might feel we have only a limited understanding of our  faith, but we are not to bury it in silence. Rather, plant the seed of God’s word in  the minds and hearts of others. 

Our first reading about a “worthy wife” describes a person who invests in living life for others. She is also called the “capable wife” or the wife with a capacity  for wisdom. The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord, honoring God by what  we do in the world. Spend the time wisely while waiting for the Lord to return.

Consider/Discuss

  • How is Jesus like and unlike this master? 
  • What aspects of the gospel do you recognize as a treasure? 
  • How do you invest your understanding of the gospel in life? 

Responding to the Word

We pray for the wisdom to be children of the light, bringing the gospel to others, especially during times when darkness threatens and people act out of fear.  We ask to be ready to welcome Jesus when he comes and asks us to render an  account, so we might enter into his joy.

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Scripture Study for

The woman in the poem from Proverbs is traditionally described as virtuous or  worthy. However, the adjective in Hebrew has a much stronger sense. It denotes  might or strength, the kind of valor found in armies. It is in this sense that the  woman is worthy. This woman is extraordinary, not because valiant women cannot be found, but that among all valiant women this one is remarkable. She  exemplifies virtues such as self-sufficiency, industry, versatility, trustworthiness,  constancy, and general goodness. She is virtuous and successful because she  possesses the wisdom that flows from fear of the Lord. Among all women, the one  who fears the Lord is truly valiant. 

The mysterious “day of the Lord” will be a day of rejoicing for the righteous,  but one of sorrow for the wicked. Paul employs two powerful metaphors to  describe this day. Its unexpected nature resembles a thief in the night; the suffering that accompanies it is referred to as “the birth pangs of the messiah.” Paul  uses the light-darkness, day-night dichotomies to describe both the situation  in which the Thessalonians find themselves and the vigilance that this situation  demands. As children of light and of the day, they must be alert, always on the  watch so that when the day of the Lord comes, they are not found unprepared. 

The parable in today’s Gospel throws light on the meaning of preparedness. It  is not a disposition of passive waiting or non-engagement because of the fear of  possible failure. Rather, the preparedness rewarded here stems from the realization that one is a steward of the goods of another, and knowing the disposition  of that other, one seeks to maximize the potential of those goods. The time of  waiting is a period of opportunity, of active engagement, of creative growth. One’s  future salvation does not rest on the extent or quality of one’s talent, but on how  one utilizes that talent as one waits for the master to return. 

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Getting Prepped

At first hearing, there is a worrisome note in this parable Jesus tells near the  end of Matthew’s account of his ministry. We like to think of Jesus as the Lord of  second chances, even third and fourth, and that we have plenty of time to get our  act together and to gather the necessary “oil” to welcome him when he returns.  But the bridegroom’s final words are, “I do not know you.” 

Is Jesus indicating that a day will come when that opportunity to make up for  what we have failed to do will not be given, that the time for springing into action  will have come and gone? Could we find ourselves locked out of the party? Since  most of us are sometimes foolish, sometimes wise, what form does foolishness  take in our lives? What are we putting off doing? 

Matthew uses this parable to fire up his community’s desire for the return of  the Lord, to call them to a more active hope in Jesus’ return. It also serves to  confront indifference and lethargy in our lives. That necessary oil can refer to  doing those good works that allow the light to shine in the world, especially when  darkness threatens. 

Being wise means being prepared for a future with the Lord. Jesus is the  Wisdom of God who gives us a share of this wisdom as a gift of the Spirit. Let us  both seek wisdom and be prepared to welcome it when it comes to us. 

Consider/Discuss

  • Do you identify with either the wise or foolish? 
  • How do you understand the call to “stay awake”? 
  • Do you consider yourself a person who seeks Wisdom? 

Responding to the Word

We pray for the gift of wisdom, to be seekers of wisdom, and that in our seeking, Wisdom will find us. We pray for the virtue of hope, which is grounded in the belief that Jesus will indeed come again, like a bridegroom, like a thief in the  night, like the Son of Man in power and glory.

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Scripture Study for

Israel’s wisdom tradition is a compilation of the insights gleaned from reflection on life experience. The book of Wisdom makes a bold claim, namely, that  Wisdom is perceived by those who love her, found by those who search for her.  Actually, one’s love of and search for Wisdom are evidence that one is already  wise. It should be noted that while people search for Wisdom, Wisdom is also  in search of them, moving through the highways and byways of life. Those who  find Wisdom find peace and security, meaning and fulfillment. And once she has  been found, one will be able to see her everywhere. 

The concern of early Christians over the death of some of their number suggests that they believed that living the new life in Christ would exempt them  from physical death. Thus they questioned both the authenticity of the faith of  the deceased and the trustworthiness of this new life. Paul seeks to encourage  those struggling with the death of a loved one and with questions of faith. He  explains that those truly joined to Jesus are delivered from the power of death,  for not even death can separate them from the love of Christ. Finally, at the end  of time, all believers will be decisively joined with the Lord. 

The parable of the ten virgins is told against the background of Palestinian  wedding customs. Several features of the parable mark its end-of-time character.  The most obvious are the banquet itself and the idea of waiting in darkness for  an event to occur without knowing exactly when it will come to pass. The difference between the virgins is their preparedness. Half of them made provision  for the possible delay of the bridegroom, the other half did not. This parable  recounts the passage from the present age to the age of fulfillment. One is either  ready to cross that threshold, or one is not. Jesus’ exhortation is simple but  strong: Be alert!

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Be Good News

A friend told me she had been the last in her family to stop going to Mass on  Sundays. Her siblings had long since given it up. The reasons had a great deal  to do with the quality of church leadership they experienced. Too much outward  show of authority, too little indication of inner sanctity. Dispensing official teaching is not enough; living humbly and as a servant is the heart of ministry. The harsh words of the prophet Malachi seem more relevant than ever in our  day. When we priests fail to walk in the way of Christ, fail to give glory to God’s  name by what we do, we become unworthy of our calling to serve God’s people.  Of course, this kind of behavior is not limited to clergy. Jesus is speaking to the  crowds and disciples about the Pharisees, the lay leaders who saw themselves  as “separate” from the rest because of their outward signs of piety. He also calls  them to authentic lives. 

 “The greatest among you must be your servant,” Jesus says, a message he  repeats again and again in the Gospels. His followers are as resistant to it now as  they were then. But the faithful follower is not about titles, or ecclesiastical dress up, or posturing in self-importance. Discipleship in the kingdom that Jesus came  preaching is about being brothers and sisters who gather around Jesus Christ,  the one Master, who humbled himself and waited for God to exalt him. May the same goal be ours. 

Consider/Discuss

  • What is your experience of those called to shepherd God’s people?
  • Do you pray for your priests, your bishops, the Holy Father?
  • Is humility a practical virtue in our world today? 

Responding to the Word

We pray for all who hold positions of leadership and authority in the Church,  that they not only speak but embody the gospel in their lives. We can ask God to  raise up more men and women who will instruct by example and words and who  will walk humbly in the way of the Lord.

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