Nov 19 Sun
The liturgy of the Church reaches the end of the liturgical year encouraging us to consider the last things, the eternal truths, which are of great benefit for our soul. The Second reading of the Mass (1 Thess 5:1-6) tells us that the Lord's encounter will come as a thief in the night, unexpectedly.
The Gospel also teaches us (Mt 25:14-30) that life on earth is a time to administer the Lord's inheritance, and thus gain Heaven, happiness forever. The parable tells us about a man who left the care of his goods to his employees, while he was absent. Its meaning is very clear: The servants are us; talents are the conditions with which God has endowed each one; the time of the master’s absence is our life; the unexpected return is death; The rendering of account, judgment; the entering the banquet, Heaven.
We are not owners, but administrators of some assets which we have to account for. Today, we wonder if, when we may stand before the Lord, we will bring our hands full, and say: "Look, Lord, I have tried to spend my life working in your estate. I've had no other end than your glory.”
One of the servants hid the talent entrusted to him: "Wicked and lazy servant,” he is called by his master… He was lazy, he lacked love. The opposite of laziness is precisely diligence, which means to love. Love gives us wings to serve the one we love. Laziness, the fruit of disloyalty, leads to increasingly greater disloyalties.
In this parable, the Lord condemns those who do not develop the gifts they have received, and those who use them for their own whim, instead of serving God and their neighbor.
Let us examine ourselves how do we use our time; if there is punctuality and order; if we devote due attention to family duties; if we develop a fruitful apostolate; if we seek to spread the Kingdom of Christ in souls and in society with the talents received.
Our life is short: Thus, we must make good use of it until the last moment, grow in love, in service to God. To make good use of the time is to do what God wants us to do at that time. To make good use of the time is to live the present moment fully, putting our head and heart on what we do, even if humanly speaking it seems insignificant, without worrying excessively for the past, without worrying about the future.
When our life ends, it should be like a knitted tapestry, beautifully finished: Our Father God will look at it, smile, and enjoy seeing a well-finished work, the result of having used well our life, our time each day, hour after hour, minute after minute.
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