|
Time of witnessing
Posted: 6th September 2007
Bishop Emile Destombes
|
Proposition to conduct a prayer meeting With the gospel (about one hour)
1. Prayer
2. Reading of the Gospel text (5 minutes)
3. Time of silence (3 minutes)
4. Spontaneous sharing (15 minutes)
5. Review by the animator using the written comments (10 minutes)
6. Sharing on the proposed questions (25 minutes). Take some notes 7. Our Father
Time of witnessing
September 2007 Parable of the talents (Mt 25, 14-30)
To witness according to one's talents
¬1. Some hints to understand the parable
Talent .A talent is not a coin but a weight equivalent to 30 kilograms. So the value of the weight depended on the metal that was used: it could be copper, silver or gold. But the commonest metal used was silver. If we take this as the base of calculation, we can say that one talent of silver is equivalent to about 500 dollars. Today we have come to understand talents as the abilities, the skills, the gifts that
we have received from God. .
One of the servants hides the money in the ground. Since at that time people did not know of safe places where to put their money, they used to hide their valuable in the ground and it was a fairly common practice. Ex. The parable of the treasure found in the field. Even recently in Cambodia there are examples of arms or ammunitions hidden in the ground to avoid detection.
2. Some leads to help the animator of the meeting
The servants received talents from their master before he departs for some far away countries. Each one received a different amount according to his abilities and qualifications. This means that each one of us receives from God different abilities and gifts. We do not receive the same gifts neither do we receive the same numbers of gifts but all of us received some skills and talents and one needs to be thankful to God for his generosity, for the many talents that he gives us.
A) The first two servants
The first two servants went immediately to work and make their talents grow and develop. They used their skills to earn more and produce more. When the master came back and saw the result, he was pleased: "Very well, good and faithful servant. . ." God expects from us that we develop our skills and talents and put them at the service of others. The invitation from God is for each one of us to grow, to improve, to become better persons and better Christians too.
We notice that the reward of work well done is still more work to accomplish. The two servants were not told to rest because they have done well but they were given greater tasks and responsibilities: "You have been faithful in a few things, I will entrust you with much more." The servants had been good and reliable in small things, now they are capable to receive greater work and fulfill more important responsibilities.
These servants have been faithful and responsible people. The master is pleased with this attitude and he wants them to share in his happiness: "Come and share the joy of your master." There is a reward for these servants and it is to share in the same happiness than their master. For us, it means to share in the happiness of our Lord after we have finished our task here on earth.
B) The third servant ¬
The attention of the parable is on the third servant, the useless servant. He just went to bury his share and later handed it back exactly as it was. He did not do anything, no efforts at trying to develop it or produce something with it. The master is not pleased with this attitude: "Wicked and worthless servant". The attention of the parable is not on the number of talents but on the way the servants use their talents.
God does not demand from a man what he has not: for instance ask somebody to teach if he has no adequate knowledge or no talents to explain clearly his thoughts to others. But God demands that a man should use to the full the abilities that he has received. Whatever talents we have (singing, cooking, dancing, abilities to relate to others, administration, sense of beauty, teaching, speaking languages, etc.) one needs to use it at the service of God and others.
We can ask: why this servant buried his talent?
maybe he was afraid to lose it, so he hid it in the ground. He had little experience with this kind of demand from his master and he did not dare to undertake anything because of lack of courage, or anxiety, or fear to be on the losing end.
maybe he thought that this amount was too insignificant and that he could not do anything with it. So the best was to just bury it and wait the return of the master. His understanding of things make him passive and thinking that it is not worthy to try anything. Is it not that sometimes we think that we are simple people or that we are poor and that we cannot do anything? We will not dare even to undertake a small task. .
A third reason could be that he was lazy, that he did not like to make efforts. For him, it was easier just to bury the talent and wait; an easy solution that does not require efforts and endeavors. So he accuses God of being too demanding and exacting and that justifies his position of
doing nothing. He does not accept the way of God and find a reason for his own lazy behavior.
The servant with the one talent did not lose it but he did nothing with it. His condemnation comes from the fact that he did not try to use his one talent, nor risk it for the common good. He kept it for himself. In many ways, we do the same in our lives keeping for ourselves the talents that we have received not putting it at the service of others. Some examples: the knowledge that we have received, the traditions inherited from our ancestors, the riches received in heritage, our faith, our skills, etc. And usually we have many reasons not to use it: I am not so good, I have no time, my talents are too little, I am very busy, etc.
People will be judged on the way they make the gifts of God grow and develop in their lives. If a man has a talent and exercises it, he will progressively be able to do more with it. On the contrary, if he does not use it, he will inevitably lose these talents that he has. Some examples: a person playing piano, the more one plays, the more one becomes skillful. Speaking English: the more one speaks, the more one becomes fluent. Cooking food: the more we prepare menus, the more it becomes easy to do it. So the best is to use our talents for God and for our fellow men. This way we make others profit from our gifts, we render service to them and we please God by doing his will.
Another meaning of the talents
Besides giving us abilities, God gives us the Good News and each one of us has a responsibility to announce it, to proclaim it and to spread it around us. What do we do with this gift, what do we do with our faith? Keep it for myself like the third servant? Or make it fructify like the first two servants. No doubt that the desire of God is in these first servants: "Very well, good and faithful servant". Jesus wants to teach us that we have an obligation to cooperate with God in the evangelization of our fellow men, at least to propose to them the word of God so that they can decide by themselves to answer it or not.
- God gave us the gift of faith and invites us to develop it, to grow in it and thus becomes a true son or daughter of God. For that we need to change, to improve, to become better witness. If I remain the same, I will never grow; to grow is to change and to become a saint is to change all the time, as Cardinal Newman was saying.
At the time of Jesus, the scribes and the Pharisees kept the law exactly as it was, as Moses had handed it on to them. In their own words, they "built a fence around the law" to protect it from changes, development and alterations. They put a great deal of efforts in just doing it. In fact this attitude was a paralysis of religious truth, not allowing people to come to a better grasp of it, a better understanding. So when Jesus came to complete the law, to reveal the true face of God, they did not accept him and rejected him. On the contrary God invites us to grow and become closer and closer to our Father in heaven.
Three questions for the group sharing:
1. What are the talents that God gave me? (Give praise to him for these abilities)
2. How do I use my talents?
3. What changes have I to operate in my life in order to grow?
Article Source: Bishop Emile Destombes
|
Print this page
Diocese of Phnom Penh - Article #496