A Reflection by Friar Volantino Verde
Last weekend (XXXIII Sun. of OT) in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 25:14-30, God gives each person a different number of talents: 1 to one person, 2 to another, and 5 to another. Today (Tues. of the XXXIII week of OT) in the Gospel of Luke, God gives to everyone equally, one coin per person. At the end of the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 20) at the end of the day, God gives the vineyard workers each one denarius even though they did not work equal numbers of hours (cf. Matt 20:1-16). What does this all mean? Will God at the end of this life pay us all the same wage like the vineyard workers? Read in the light of last Sunday’s Gospel and the one of today, it seems contradictory.
Yes, God gives to everyone equally but on the basis of how much each one opens up to Him. That is, to all who open themselves up totally to Him, God equally gives them everything – 100. To those who open up 60%, God equally gives 60. To those who open only 30%, God also gives 30 (cf Matt 13:8). It is like this until the end of the day, 6:00 in the evening, when the working day ends about halfway through our life. That is the time where one succeeds in grasping or maturing the gift of one’s Faith – meaning – to understand how God speaks (cf Job 33:13-14ff). For the rest of the time until the midnight of our life when the Bridegroom will come (cf. Matt 25:1-13) we have to ask ourselves whether we have been awake or not. We must be fruitful according to our abilities until the midnight of our life when the Bridegroom comes and everyone will receive equally at that moment according to the profit he has earned – that is – according to the effort he put in. Those who have not made a profit on even one talent will end up with nothing. Those who made a profit by putting in half their effort will bear half the fruit. Finally, those who made maximum use of their gift will have the most from God (cf. Matt 5:9b; Matt 13:8). St. Paul also explains: “Whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly; whoever sows abundantly will reap abundantly!” (cf 2Cor 9:6). Jesus himself explains even better and more clearly, will say at the end of time to one, “Reign over 5 cities” (Luke 19:19). To another he will say, “Reign over 10 cities” (Luke 19:17). To the one who put in no effort, “Take away even what he thought he had!” (cf. Luke 19:26).
