When he was at table with them, he took the bread. He blessed the bread, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him!(Luke 24:13-35)

Friday, August 29, 2008

Mt 25:14-30Jesus 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 groundand 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 plantand 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 plantand 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.’”

In the parable, the master entrusts his servants with a portion of his wealth, but no more than they can handle. My Master has entrusted me with His "wealth"--faith. My faith is not something I am supposed to keep to myself, buried in a hole, where it will not even earn interest. Rather it is to be shared, and thereby multiplied, through witness and example.
The proof of this in in the fact that every single time I have shared my faith with someone else, I can actually feel my own faith increasing exponentially. God knows how much I enjoy sharing His wealth, because He is constantly putting my faith to work for Him. He has recently put 4 people in my path who are looking for more spirituality in their lives. I am not an apologist, and I have very few answers to give them. But I do give them a share of my own faith by answering their simpler questions and inviting them to go to mass with me. At the very least, I want to be able to show my Master that I attempted to increase His wealth when He comes back and asks me to account for myself. I know this sounds as if I am sharing my faith to keep from being "thrown into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth", but the fact is that the more I share, the more I get, and the more I get the more I realize I am sharing my faith out of love for God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and my desire to spend eternity with Him.

No comments: